Chapter Four

I barely saw my surroundings as I headed down the hallway, but I made it downstairs, through the atrium, and back outside, heading in a random direction.

I was walking too fast and not paying enough attention. After I bumped into a third person, causing them to fall and drop their bags, I paused and helped them up. Then I kept moving but slowed my pace.

Ashe stayed close, snapping at anyone who recognized me and tried to come over.

I was not one for the company of strangers right now.

I looked around at my surroundings. I was walking across an open space ringed by buildings on three sides with spaces between to allow foot traffic.

I recalled that the Council was headquartered on the campus of a Magech university, which was where I seemed to have ended up.

There was a statue of a Zaphyr rising above clouds in the center of the quad, carved from white stone. This place sure loved its statues.

A few people were taking a respite from the sun under one of the massive trees decorating the lawn. Even though it was now early evening, it was still bright, thanks to the mid-summer season.

I ended up leaning against the broad trunk of a Japanese maple tree, looking up through the vibrant red leaves. I was trying and failing to do some breathing exercises to calm down. Ashe sat next to me, her body tense, still whining and nudging me.

Our bond wasn’t only for fighting strength, it was for emotional strength as well, and even though a human and a Circoux didn’t deal with emotions the same way, what helped was the care we had for each other. I would never be alone, never be without someone that cared about me as long as I had Ashe.

When I lowered my gaze, I saw Callan jogging over and felt further ease. He was a source of strength too. It had become easier to admit how much I needed Callan, but I knew how fragile human relationships could be, whether platonic, familial, or romantic.

They could be torn away at any moment, without warning, and I was still walled up against the pain that would bring, but I was trying not to exist with that caveat haunting the back of my mind.

Callan was here. The world had changed and he was still with me.

When he reached me, he pulled me into his arms and I lay my head against his chest.

I hardly felt like I had strength to stand, so my arms were bunched up between us instead of around him. I inhaled the faint laundry scent of his clothes, letting myself relax into the firm hold he had on me.

I felt like something in my chest was trying to crack open and spill out my emotions in a raw, ugly river. I wanted to release it, wanted to scream until the stars shook, but I held it back, released only a trickle: a heavy sob that made Callan’s arms tighten.

I couldn’t fall apart. Not now.

But I was a dam that was going to overflow. I felt it.

After a while, I raised my head. Callan looked like his heart was breaking for me. He cupped my face with one of his hands, thumbing my cheek.

“I’m scared and I’m pissed.” Understatement. I needed an entirely new vocabulary to convey how I felt.

Ashe whined. I reached over and scratched behind her ears, leaning my forehead against the top of her head.

“Thank you for helping me not fall apart.” Her tongue flicked out and caught my nose. I wrinkled it and moved back.

“Same,” Callan said. “That meeting was a lot; I know you’re overwhelmed. Especially because we don’t have any clarity as to why a Kiabi Warrior came after you.” He made a sound of frustration. “I need you safe. How do I keep you safe?”

“A million bucks to anyone who can provide the answer to that.” I shook my head. “What am I supposed to do? Is it gonna come after me again? Do I just keep fighting back whenever it shows up? That thing was ridiculously powerful. If I didn’t have Divine magic on my side, there’s no way I would have survived.”

“We could burn down the forest?” Callan suggested, slanting a smile. “I know that’s a terrible thing to say but…we have options.”

I swatted his chest but chuckled. “Somehow I don’t think we could take down a powerful, sentient forest with a few lit matches.” I puffed up my cheeks and blew the air out. “I had an anxiety attack. It was too much, learning about the blackout I caused and everything that happened because of it. I’ve never heard of any of the entities Kana and Cindra described. They sound terrifying. Then Jarron and Rubiyana bickering and talking about me like I’m a choice cut of meat? Ugh.” Ashe and Callan had done a good job bringing me some calm, but talking about it spiked my anxiety again.

I didn’t do well with agitation and questions that led to dead ends. I was better at hacking and slashing at my problems until they went away.

Callan held my face between his hands and leveled his gaze with mine. “I won’t let anything take you from me.” He sounded so sure of that, I wanted to believe him. “We will figure this out. Diviners have to offer some guidance about why the Kiabi are after you and how to get off their radar.”

“Yeah, right, okay. They would be the best resource.” I tried to relax again, kept telling myself that the dam couldn’t break because it wouldn’t fix anything. I had a problem and I would attack it.

“Hello! Hi! Hello!” The loud shouts of a voice I didn’t recognize turned my attention over Callan’s shoulder.

Someone was running toward us, waving one of their hands over their head. They barely slowed down in time to avoid slamming into the maple tree. They braced their hands on their knees as they caught their breath, then straightened and offered us a beaming smile.

“There you are!” they said. “I’m Sage Nemui, a Magisci here at the Magech school. Council member Jarron asked if I might come check on you and see to anything you needed.”

Sage had a medium-brown skin tone and was dressed in a short-sleeved button-down in a bold teal pattern, dark-colored jeans, and low-top sneakers. One of their arms sported a quarter sleeve tattoo. And their hair was stunning. I could only describe it as Cookie Monster blue, with a stylish fade and longer on the top in a way I found extremely attractive.

“Oh, uh, thanks. Nice to meet you.” I shook their hand, then they shook Callan’s. “I needed to get some air. Thanks for coming to check on me.”

“I saw the Kiabi Warrior come after you. Tongues are wagging all over campus,” Sage said, lowering their voice even though no one was close by to overhear us. “I completely understand that you must be overwhelmed right now, and I feel inadequate about being sent out here to offer you a beverage and a place to sit down.”

I managed a tight smile. “It’s appreciated.”

“Magisci are…magic scientists, right?” Callan asked.

“Yes!” Sage replied. “Here at the Magech school, we teach all the Talented disciplines and boast a robust science and research program where Magisci study mixing magic and technology. It is a fairly new practice, but we are excited about it. I’ve no magic myself, but I work closely with people across all the Talents.”

A strange feeling settled on me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about mixing magic and technology. Then again, it wasn’t something I had any experience with or knowledge about. Guess I should keep an open mind?

“I cannot believe I finally get to meet you!” Sage continued, then their face sobered. “Ah, I mean, even under such circumstances. Are you feeling any better?”

“No, but I’ll get there.” Although I wasn’t sure how I’d get to a calm place about all this. “Is everyone still in the meeting room?” I had no desire to go back and continue talking about the errant magic from Drisdari, the role I played in it, and the target I’d become to the Kiabi Warriors, but I should at least show my face before I left.

“Jarron extends his apologies for things getting out of control with Queen Rubiyana,” Sage said. “He thought it best to continue meeting with her alone, so he called me to escort your friends out and suggested I give them a tour while you took the time you needed. I left them in the Magisci labs. We can head there now.”

I nodded, and Callan took my hand as we followed Sage, Ashe trotting by my side.

Sage led us to a sprawling building of white and gray brick with old school architecture. Dark gray columns held up a triangular porch roof.

The words Nova Celes School of Magech were etched into the roof.

“The school’s official name is Nebula University, but it’s for all school levels,” Sage said, leading us through wooden double doors. “This is the main building where courses are taught at the high school and college level. The lower grades are in the adjacent buildings. A lot of instructors also have offices here, and our largest conservatory is centered here. The Magisci labs I work from the most are in the basement.”

We entered a modest entryway from which a hallway ran straight ahead as well as to the right and left. A wine-colored runner lined the dark hardwood floors.

Paintings lined the walls, from human portraits to Wild creatures. On either side of the runner were curio cases with various objects inside them. The name of one caught my eye.

“Everflow Gourd.” Inside the case was an indigo vessel that looked like two bulbous spheres stacked on top of each other. The neck of the bottle was short, with a stopper that looked like a bumpy, pink berry.

“Ah.” Sage gave me a hesitant look. “This is actually an item from Drisdari Forest.”

My eyes widened.

“What’s it doing here then?” Callan asked. “Shouldn’t it have been retrieved by a Kiabi Warrior?”

“Drisdari is one of my areas of expertise, so I’m happy to explain,” Sage said proudly. “The Kiabi Warriors do not tend to target magical items, even if some of them are on the mischievous side.”

Mischievous. That was an interesting way to describe legendary magic.

“Their main objectives are the entities,” Sage continued. “So they only leave the forest should any of them escape.” They gestured to the gourd. “This Everflow Gourd was taken by a thief about eighty years ago and sold on the black market. The gourd is enchanted to never run dry of water, and a healer used it to help people as he traveled, especially when he visited places where water was scarce. After fifty years it did run out. So he donated it to the Magech school.”

“Incredible,” I said. Callan made an agreeing sound. “That’s an extremely useful magical item.”

There were magic water gourds and bone-crushing creatures in Drisdari. Talk about extremes. In my first lifetime there was a lot of speculation about what could be found in Drisdari. From mind-control berries to wish-granting stones, and herbs that would give you the ability to fly. I wondered if any of those were real.

“It’s said there are more Everflow Gourds in the forest, but this is the only one we’ve known of,” Sage said.

We continued walking, and as I thought about the plunder of Drisdari, something occurred to me.

“I may regret asking this, but…Varian Chambers. King Thareon. Is he around?” Varian was a Necromajin who’d become immortal after drinking Stasis Water he’d found in Drisdari Forest.

He was responsible for the Magical Collapse that removed magic from the world around the time I’d fallen into my centuries-long slumber. He’d almost destroyed the world again in the Before Times, but I’d driven the Divine sword through him, then traveled back in time to stop him from causing the Collapse in the first place. Diviners had then purified his dark magic and jailed him.

“Oh yeah,” Callan said. “He wouldn’t have magic anymore, but the Stasis Water meant he remained immortal.”

And if he was still around and up to no good, I’d cut him down again.

“What happened to King Thareon has become something of an urban legend,” Sage said. “About twenty-eight years into his imprisonment, he vanished without a trace from his cell. No one saw what took him and there was no traceable evidence left behind.”

I frowned, exchanging an uneasy look with Callan. “That’s odd. And he hasn’t been seen since?”

“There’s been no sign of him, and I know for a fact Diviners have been keeping a lookout,” Sage replied. “Needless to say, people have come up with all sorts of interesting explanations for his disappearance.”

“It’s odd that he up and vanished, but as long as he stays gone that’s all that matters. Though I’ll be ready for him if he ever resurfaces.”

“I second that,” Callan said fiercely. Varian’s disappearance was yet another unsettling thing. But at least Sage hadn’t said he was now a professor here teaching Dark Magic 101 or something. I would have lost my shit.

We took a left at the end of the hallway and Sage led us to an elevator and took us down to the basement.

When the door opened, we stepped into a brightly lit open space.

The floor was pale hardwood, the lighting a mix of fluorescent bulbs and lanterns with softer light. A few walls were smooth concrete while others were wood paneled.

Wooden tables were laden with tools, papers, computers, tablets, and books. There were several floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and one wall was covered in luscious climbing plants. I was sure they were maintained by Tamers since there was no natural light down here.

“Welcome to the Magisci labs!” Sage said with a flourish of both arms.

A lot of people stopped to stare. Some were dressed in modern clothes under peacock-blue lab coats, while others were dressed in magic-era fashions of fitted, tapered, or wide-leg trousers and tops that varied from wrap styles to tunics.

I felt like I was stepping between the past and present in a continuous loop. Seeing aesthetics from my first lifetime mixed with modernity continued to be interesting and a little unsettling.

“Everyone, this is Pennrae Linbry, her magnificent Familiar Ashe, and Callan Rieve, but of course you know that.” Sage looked at us. “Everyone knows who you are. Ev-er-y-one.”

“How wonderful,” I muttered. Not that I didn’t already know that. Gideon had once again floated the idea of starting social media accounts for me and I had threatened to float him out the window.

Callan and I shook a lot of hands and exchanged chitchat while Sage took us around the room. People unabashedly crooned over Ashe, who received the attention stoically. She was more favorable to being adored by children than adults.

“Penn!” Gideon called. “There you are. I must tell you something.” He and Toji were toward the back of the room chatting with a couple Magisci. Sage led us over.

“Guess what the nickname for the university is.” Gideon looked like he was the highest level of amused one could be. Toji shook his head but there was a smile on his lips.

“What is it?”

Gideon pulled his lips in and stifled a laugh. “Magech City,” he said, trying to contain his laughter.

Callan did one of his laugh coughs while I cackled with no shame.

“Why is that funny?” Sage asked, tilting their head. “Does it have to do with the Before Times?”

“Magic City was the name of an extremely well-known strip club in a place called Atlanta in the Before Times that had quite a reputation,” Callan supplied. “So Magech City brings something very specific to mind.”

Sage laughed and quickly wrote that down on a tablet they’d picked up while we’d walked through the labs.

“My, weren’t you quick with the explanation,” Gideon said, looking Callan up and down. “Bet you also knew their happy hour menu by heart, huh?”

“Who went there for the drinks?” Callan said, scratching the back of his head. I elbowed his ribs and he grinned at me.

“I’m glad we ended up here,” Gideon said. “I think almost everyone is gonna come to my shop tomorrow for the auction.”

“Cha-ching!” I said.

Gideon had been overjoyed that his shop was still around and that the neighborhood around it was part of the magic district. And he hadn’t missed a beat when he realized that the buzz around our little group included a lot of interest in stories and items from the Before Times. He’d wasted no time in putting together an event where he’d be auctioning off some of his inventory. Nothing said “collector’s item” more than a replica from an alternate timeline.

I wasn’t surprised Gideon had used Sage’s tour to network.

“This place is incredible,” Toji said. “Someone was telling us about a project to incorporate Tawa Stones into drones to help water crops.”

“Yes! I’m part of that team,” Sage said. “We don’t only want to rely on magic users, you see, and drones can be helpful in remote areas.”

“Tawa Stones in drones,” I repeated. “That’s…something.” I had watched too many sci-fi movies to believe nothing could go wrong with giving machines more power. What if a Tawa Stone–enhanced drone gained autonomy and went on a water soaking rampage?

Okay, that wasn’t exactly grounds for Armageddon. Maybe I should cut down on the sci-fi movies.

“Has there been any success with it?” Callan asked.

“Minor,” Sage said. “The logistics of how to get a magical item to respond to tech commands is complicated, to put it lightly. But we’re hoping to make strides within the next few years. You might actually be interested in the advancement of Portalorbs. Have you heard about it?”

“No,” Callan said. “How’ve they advanced?”

“I’ll show you!”

We followed Sage to a wooden filing cabinet, and they opened a drawer and pulled out a small pouch. They carefully shook the contents onto their palm, revealing spheres the size of marbles. They looked like Portalorbs, but much smaller. And while I knew Portalorbs to be clear, these carried a slight tinge of color. There was a mix of purple, yellow, orange, and pink.

“These are Portalorbs?” Callan asked, picking up an orange one.

I picked up a pink one and brought it close to eye level. There was no feel of magic from them so they weren’t connected to a time pocket we could travel to if we smashed it.

“About thirty years ago a group of Temporals started experimenting with making them smaller,” Sage said. “If you wanted to travel to multiple places, it was a bit unwieldy hauling several of them, no?”

“My father complained about it more than my mother,” Callan said. There was a hint of sadness in his voice. I shifted closer so my arm brushed against his. The loss of our respective families still weighed heavily on us. “I was a kid during the magic-era, so there was no need for me to travel with many of them. But this is an incredible advancement. And they can even be color-coded?”

“Earth Conjurers and stone Shapers have been able to shift them toward different hues,” Sage said. “That way you’ll easily know which ones lead to which time pockets.” They put the Portalorbs back into the pouch, looked at it in consideration, then handed it to Callan. “Here, take them as a gift.”

“Are you allowed to do that?” Toji asked bemusedly.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” Sage said, winking.

“Are you sure?” Callan questioned.

“We have tons of these. They won’t be missed.” Sage waved their hand.

They were very cavalier about what was essentially stealing office supplies. I liked that about them.

“Thank you, then.” Callan slipped the pouch into the small messenger bag slung across his chest.

“Kana and Cindra are still with Jarron and the queen?” I asked Toji.

“They’re wrapping up. Kana sent a text shortly before you got here. They have to return to Quivess to make a report to the Diviners.”

Nowadays, Diviners mostly congregated on their own lands, so I had yet to encounter one. Quivess was the closest Diviner land to Nova Celes and was where the Diviner of Toji’s family line was.

I wondered if Mixuné was on one of Min Soldu’s Diviner lands. Even though defying her prophecy had knocked me out for almost three centuries, she had been instrumental in keeping Ashe and I safe during that time and helped me when I’d time traveled to the past to stop a disaster of world ending proportions.

I’d left her in the past, but I was under no illusion that Diviners were subject to aging and death.

“Penn, I’m worried for you,” Toji was saying, his brow furrowed. “This Kiabi Warrior thing…”

“How do we get to the timeline where my best friend’s life isn’t constantly in danger?” Gideon said, throwing his hands up and looking at the ceiling. He dropped them and his face sobered as he shuffled closer and lay his head on my shoulder. “I almost lost you to time and now I might lose you to a magical tree man?”

I laughed, feeling some further ease in the knot of tension that felt like it was twisting the muscles in my chest. Gideon and his way with words would always lift my spirits.

“Magical tree man, way to condense down a mythical being that’s Morphed from a sentient tree,” I said.

“I was going to call them Groot, but I thought that might be a bit too on the nose,” Gideon said, raising his head. That earned another smile.

Ashe, who’d been enjoying a scratch from Callan, headbutted the back of my shoulder and growled, but this time it wasn’t a comforting gesture. That was her “feed me” growl. Seconds later, my stomach announced its emptiness.

“My ladies are famished,” Callan said, flashing a smile.

“It’s been quite a day and I’m ready for it to be over right after I eat half my body weight in something hot and greasy,” I said.

“Let’s head out,” Sage said. “There’s a fantastic burger joint nearby if you’re in the mood for that. I’ve got a company credit card with no limit.”

And no shame in using it. I liked Sage even more.

“I could eat the ivy off this wall so burgers sound like heaven.” Gideon clutched his stomach as we followed Sage to the exit. “By the way, Penn, I also received a text message. My mother saw cell phone footage of me in the background of that fight and had some colorful words for the company I continue to keep.”

I cringed. Gideon’s family was intact, which we’d been relieved to find out, and there was no duplicate Gideon born in this timeline. Surprisingly, they also remembered the Before Times, which we surmised was due to their connection to Gideon.

We were also curious about Toji’s adoptive family but hadn’t found them yet.

“If she calls me, I am not picking up,” I muttered. Gideon patted my shoulder sympathetically. Victoria Tophe was in my top five of most intimidating people in any timeline.

Once outside, we headed back to the Council building where Jarron, Cindra, and Kana were standing near the entrance. The rubble from the statue had been cleared and the area where the fight occurred had been taped off.

“I’m sorry about my hasty exit earlier,” I said once we’d reached them. “I was…”

“Overwhelmed,” Jarron said sympathetically. “I understand and do not hold it against you. I am deeply concerned for your well-being regarding being targeted by a Kiabi Warrior.”

“Is there any way we can find out for sure what’s going on?” Toji said to Kana and Cindra. “All we have is Cindra’s speculation that it came after Penn because of her Divine power.”

“You caused a catastrophic mess.” Cindra’s words caused several of us to make startled sounds as we shifted our attention to her. She took a step closer to me and I noted that her hands were balled and her body was rigid.

“That brief moment of the blackout caused so much damage.” Cindra’s voice broke around her words and I felt a lump forming in my throat. I could hardly imagine what she, Kana, and the rest of the warriors on patrol had endured that night as they’d been at ground zero when the forest went dormant.

“Have a heart, Cin,” Kana said. Cindra slid her eyes to Kana, who hesitated under her stare but didn’t back down. Her eyes narrowed as Kana continued speaking.

“We know what the facts are. Reiterating them does nothing but make Penn feel worse. She has a lot on her shoulders as it is.” She looked at me, her expression softening. Cindra’s lips drew tight, but she remained silent.

“We’ve heard from the Diviners at Quivess,” Kana said. “They’ve extended an invitation to you for tomorrow afternoon at four. Hopefully they can help you understand why a Kiabi Warrior came after you.”

“I appreciate that.” It was a small hope, but I would take it.

Kana smiled, and there was a shy edge to it. “What happened the night of the blackout was horrific, but I can’t blame you for something you didn’t mean to cause. And, well, I would not exist if you hadn’t done what you did, so no matter what, I am grateful to you.”

A strange feeling went through me as I offered her a smile. I knew that Kana hadn’t existed in the Before Times, but it still felt like too huge a fact when directly faced with it. She was only born because of my actions. Whoa.

“I hope Diviners can provide helpful insight,” Jarron said. “Pennrae, we thank you for your visit, even if it was a bit more excitement than we were counting on.”

“That makes two of us.” I tried not to bristle at his comment. Excitement was seeing your favorite musician in concert or a highly anticipated movie on opening day.

Hell, for me, excitement was rounding up a bounty and cashing out before I’d even patched up my wounds.

Nothing about a powerful “magical tree man” coming after me was exciting.

My stomach made itself heard again and I turned to Sage. “Can we please hit that burger joint now? And if it’s near that bar we passed on the way here, I’ll be in heaven.”

I was ready to get tipsy enough to try and catch stars.