Chapter Two

“Hold on and back all the way up.” I made the time-out sign with my hands and shook my head. I was still under an adrenaline rush, but Callan’s hold on my hand and Ashe’s presence behind me were helping me calm down.

“What exactly are Kiabi Warriors and why did one come after me?” I frowned as I thought about the strength, speed, and magic of my opponent. It had created a sword from its own anatomy for crying out loud.

“There are a lot of things we need to discuss,” Kana said, her tone hesitant. “Which is why we’re here. But the Kiabi Warrior’s appearance isn’t…”

“You might be reaping what you sowed,” the other woman cut in, which brought startled gasps as we turned our attention to her. Her eyes were narrowed as she gave me a speculative look. After a pause, she thrust her hand out for a shake that was a little too firm.

“I am Cindra Palwin, part of the Apprentice Guild faction Toji will be joining. My cousin is the Apprentice of my family line.”

In this timeline, Apprentices like Toji, whose souls were a powerful source of Divine magic, worked closely with Diviners, and there was also a Guild of skilled warriors who supported them.

Cindra and Kana wore midnight blue armor similar to mine with pauldrons, greaves, chest and leg harnesses, and a wide belt. Also like mine, their belts and harnesses were multi-pocketed and probably stocked with smaller projectile weapons, healing items, and offensive goodies like paralysis power and smoke bombs.

Kana’s weapon of choice was a haladie, and she had a chakram hitched to her belt, while Cindra carried a sword at her back and a coiled whip at her hip.

“Excuse me?” I said, after that awkward introduction. “Reaping what I sowed?”

“What the hell does that mean?” Callan’s tone was heated. “I’ve never felt magic like that before. Why was a Kiabi Warrior after Penn?”

For a friendly chat? To offer an invitation to tea? To eviscerate my soul from my body?

Whichever could it be?

“We will explain what we can,” Kana said solemnly.

By now a lot of people had emerged from the Council building, some dressed in old-fashioned guard livery in purples and blues, others in modern business wear. Many carried a weapon.

They’d arrived just in time to be of no help whatsoever.

There was tension among them as they looked at the wreckage done by the fight, and me, the cause of it. I was still on edge as Kana’s words looped through my mind. Kiabi Warrior?

“Well!” came a booming voice followed by a loud clap of hands. “What a situation we seem to have here!” The speaker was a burly Black man who looked to be in his mid-forties. He had hair that was receding but well-groomed, and he sported an equally well-groomed, bushy beard. Gold studs and loops lined his ears, and he had a physique that belied a life full of physical activity. He wore a pinstripe suit that was well tailored to his muscular body.

He stared at the debris-strewn promenade, the debris mainly being the shattered statue. Oh well, it’d had a good run. He then looked at me and offered a strained smile as he extended his hand.

“I am Jarron Harrush, one of the four members of the Council,” he said as we shook. “We were expecting you but…”

“Let’s go inside,” Cindra said. She had a deep, strong voice, the kind well suited to barking orders no one would dare disobey. “There is much that needs to be discussed and time is being wasted.”

“Of course, do come in.” Jarron indicated for us to walk ahead of him.

We headed up a short flight of stairs toward the front door and entered a large atrium. It felt both old and new with its hardwood floors, gothic wall paneling, and modern accents like sculptures and art. I even recognized a Basquiat painting.

We followed Jarron up a wraparound staircase to the second floor.

After a short walk down a carpeted hallway, we were ushered through tall double doors and entered a large room. A massive dark wood table that could easily seat two dozen stood in the middle of it. The wall opposite the doors was covered in maps of various sizes, and I saw Gideon straining to get a better view of them.

The map wall was painted cream, while the others were covered in wallpaper with a beautiful pattern in shades of rose gold. The room was well lit by the natural light coming through huge arched windows.

Jarron led us in then turned to face us. He was doing a good job maintaining a genial expression, but I could tell the raucous outside had him rattled. He still took the time to greet Callan, Gideon, and Toji though, giving them vigorous handshakes.

“What a magnificent Circoux,” he then said to Ashe, who stood behind me with her head resting on my shoulder.

Jarron wasn’t the only one faking it ’til they made it. I was doing a good poker face, but I was unsettled, and Ashe could feel my agitation. Her closeness was comforting. As was the tight hold Callan still had on my hand.

“Circoux are not native to Nova Celes, so this is quite a treat, especially the Circoux of Divine Fire!” Jarron clapped his hands again, and Ashe, who was not prone to being jumpy, flinched. During one of Gideon’s crash courses on Nova Celes, he’d mentioned that Jarron used to be a top-ranked mixed martial arts fighter. His extremely unique nickname had been…Heavy Hands.

I pitied anyone who had ever been on the receiving end of those hands.

“Welcome to Nova Celes,” Jarron was saying. “Our other members were meant to be part of this meeting as well, but they were needed for urgent matters in several of our other territories. They look forward to meeting you upon their return.”

“I look forward to that as well.” I continued to rifle through the info Gideon had rapid-fired at me a few days ago.

Jarron was a copper Shaper, but the Council wasn’t only made up of magic users—there were two Talented and two non-Talented among them.

Nova Celes embraced both magic and scientific advancement, calling the blend of the two Magech. Nova Celes was the largest Magech territory on the continent, and the Council ruled not only it, but all the other Magech territories.

“I also welcome representatives of the Apprentice Guild.” Jarron nodded at Cindra and Kana, who did the same.

He indicated for us to have a seat around the table. He, Cindra, and Kana sat on the left, while my group headed to the right. Ashe sat behind me.

“Through records kept by Diviners, as well as your sister Kinari, we have been made privy to the Before Times, the world you woke up in after sleeping for two hundred and ninety-two years,” Jarron said. “A sleep induced by going against the prophecy from a Diviner’s card reading.”

At the mention of Kinari’s name my throat grew tight. Kinari had written about everything I had told her and our mother about the future when I went back in time.

“I’ll have to read those sometime and see if Kinari embellished anything,” I said, keeping my tone light. “She was very imaginative.”

Jarron flashed a brief smile before his face sobered. “It is deeply alarming that there was an attack that targeted you right outside our doors.” He turned to Cindra and Kana. “What are we to make of this?”

“I’d like to understand what Kiabi Warriors are and why one of them came after me,” I said, looking at them as well.

“I’m confused and troubled by its appearance,” Jarron said. “Does it align with the incident from a few weeks ago? Especially since Pennrae…” He gave me a hesitant look.

I frowned. “Especially since I what? What incident?”

“Well…” Kana drew herself up a bit straighter. “The main reason Cindra and I are here is to discuss what happened a few weeks ago. On the night you returned to the present.”

My eyebrows rose, as well as a foreboding feeling.

“Three and a half weeks ago, on June twenty-seventh, Pennrae Linbry stepped through a portal from three hundred years in the past and returned to the present day, correct?” Cindra spoke like she was reading from a book.

“Yes,” I said. “But what does that have to do with—”

“At eleven forty-six p.m.?” Cindra cut in.

My eyes widened and I exchanged a look with Callan, Gideon, and Toji, who were frowning.

“Yes,” Callan replied after a few moments. “I remember checking the time after you came back. Eleven forty-six sounds about right.”

“Confirmed,” Cindra said with a nod, exchanging a brief look with Kana, who was doing her best to keep a neutral expression. “That is the precise moment a complete blackout of magic occurred across the world,” she continued. “Every Talented person, every magical item, every Wild creature, temporarily lost their magic. It was brief, short enough that most with Talent magic were not aware…”

I startled. A magical blackout occurred the moment I came back? Say what now?

I looked at Callan again, who shook his head. “I didn’t feel anything, but I wasn’t really focused on my magic at the time. I was focused on you.”

“I didn’t feel anything either.” I turned back to Cindra. It felt like something heavy was sitting in my stomach, growing heavier with each sentence she spoke.

“A lot of magic had issues that night, but we believed it was due to the strength of the Auraxa Reiv celestial alignment and the known surges it causes,” Jarron said. “Firi Stones flickered, Tawa Stones created small floods, some Tamed Wild creatures temporarily went feral…”

“What were the consequences of the magical blackout?” I asked.

“The blackout affected Drisdari Forest tremendously,” Kana said. “The forest is a magical force, as we know. During the blackout, the forest’s magic temporarily went dormant and allowed things to…escape.”

My mouth fell open. Gideon gasped. Ashe whined. At my side, Callan was tense. Jarron looked like he’d heard this information already but hearing it again was as unpleasant as the first time.

I tried to breathe past my rising anxiety. There was a massive resistance within me to accept that I was the catalyst for yet another huge event. But resisting it wouldn’t make it not true, so I had to sit here and face it.

If only a jailbreak from a magic forest could be a good thing.

I slid my gaze to Kana. Why hadn’t she mentioned this before?

As though she could tell what I was thinking, she flashed an apologetic smile.

“I was not allowed to speak about it until now,” she explained. Which I could only acknowledge with a nod.

“Cindra, myself, and several other cohorts were on patrol at Drisdari that night,” Kana continued. “Part of the forest borders Nova Celes and falls under our jurisdiction. Because of plundering issues, the Apprentice Guild keeps watch for people trying to enter. On the night of the blackout the entire forest went dormant and a lot of the entities within it were released…” From the look on her face, I could tell that whatever she’d experienced that night had terrified her tremendously.

“We fell under the assault of dozens of creatures,” Cindra picked up. Her voice was steadier than Kana’s, but the slight waver in her tone indicated that recalling the details of that night wasn’t easy for her either. I squirmed as I continued to battle very uncomfortable feelings.

“We were not prepared to face off against creatures that had the power to rip our bones apart under our skin,” Kana continued. “To levitate us above the treetops and throw us back to the ground. To wrap us in illusions of our worst fears. To take over our minds and make us take our weapons up against each other…”

“Oh my God,” came Gideon’s horrified voice. “There are creatures like that in Drisdari Forest?”

“I knew the forest contained powerful magical items.” I felt like I was being consumed by a nightmare as I listened to them talk. “But there are also entities like that?”

Kana nodded. “It was horrible. I was knocked out pretty quickly and when I came to, things were being brought under control by the Kiabi Warriors. They’re tasked with making sure those creatures stay within the forest and are the only ones who can retrieve them if they escape.”

“They are morphed from the forest’s trees,” Cindra added.

“Morphed? Is that why I saw a man? When Ashe and I were attacking it with Divine magic, it changed into a form that…well it didn’t look entirely human, but close to it.”

“Kiabi Warriors are Morph creatures,” Kana replied. “They can shapeshift into various forms, same as your Circoux. Your Divine magic seemed to have forced a change onto it. Which is…” She shook her head. “Incredible. Perhaps such a thing was always possible but there’s never been an instance that I know of where a Kiabi Warrior has been subjected to Divine magic.”

“I see…” Morph magic wasn’t anything new, I was blood bound to a Morph creature after all, but it still made my head spin thinking of a forest whose trees could become powerful warriors, as well as take on a form that looked human. It was a genius defense system though. There were thousands of trees in that forest.

These revelations were keeping me in a very stunned headspace. I was already grappling with a lot and here was a ton more dropped onto me.

“The Kiabi Warriors have been retrieving every entity that escaped, but a lot of damage was done to those who were close to the forest,” Cindra said, her voice hard. “We lost several of our number, and many have injuries they will never fully recover from. Both physical and mental.”

“Holy shit.” I felt cold and clammy. I could not have imagined these kinds of creatures existed within Drisdari Forest.

And I had set them free. People had lost their lives and suffered irreparable damage because of me.

No wonder Cindra had been prickly from the moment she laid eyes on me. Kana probably felt the same way but was doing a better job at hiding it. Likely for Toji’s sake.

Callan was squeezing my hand tightly, but I barely felt it.

I was struggling against a guilt trip, but it was hard. I hadn’t intended to cause a magical blackout, but I was still ground zero for everything that had happened.

“This is horrific,” Callan said, his tone strained. “Especially because it opens up bigger questions as to how Penn moving through time caused all magic to shut down. But why would a Kiabi Warrior target Penn?”

“A Kiabi Warrior coming after someone who did not escape them is not something we’ve ever documented,” Kana said, shaking her head. “So I really don’t know why…”

“Perhaps you have become a target to them,” Cindra said, her narrowed eyes on me.

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Cindra clasped her hands together on top of the table, tilting her head as she considered me. It was the kind of scrutinizing look that would make someone squirm, but I was too stunned to be affected.

“You, Pennrae Linbry, seem to be quite a force,” she said. “You are an over three-hundred-year-old warrior able to wield a weapon none have been able to wield in all of recorded history. A weapon that carries the power of Divine magic.”

The room had fallen quiet. Too quiet.

My throat felt dry and my grip around Callan’s hand should have had him protesting, but he said nothing, just held on to me tightly.

“What…” My voice cracked. I cleared my throat. “What are you saying?”

I didn’t wanna hear it. I was at my quota for bad news for the rest of the decade.

“You want to know what I think?” came Cindra’s matter-of-fact voice. “I think your tremendous power has put a target on your back. You caused the collapse of magic across the entire world and upended the Kiabi Warriors’ control over the forest. Something I would imagine they cannot risk happening again. So maybe they decided that you need to be eradicated.”