Burned

5

I gated back to London. There was a message on my phone from Caldera telling me to report to Keeper HQ tomorrow morning. From the way she phrased it, I had the feeling it wasn’t going to be a short trip.

I walked from my storeroom to the front of the shop and dropped into the chair behind the counter. What Landis had told me was bothering me, especially on top of Arachne’s warnings from the night before last, and more and more I was feeling as though I was out of my depth. The uncomfortable truth is that in a lot of ways I’m more of a Dark mage than a Light one. I understand threats and the use of force. But things like networking and politics … those aren’t things I know how to do, not well. I can get by, but I always seem to make enemies.

Arachne had told me that the way I was living was untenable. Staying independent, trying to live apart from the power blocs. There were reasons I’d made the choices I had, and at the time they’d seemed good, but the simple truth was that if I’d acted more like Sonder, gone along with the Council and not rocked the boat, then none of this would be happening. Levistus wouldn’t be after me, and Symmaris wouldn’t have come knocking on my door yesterday. I wanted to blame the Light mages, but was it really because of them? Or was it because they saw something in me that really was there? Maybe the reason the Council kept treating me like a Dark mage was that, at some level, they were right.

What I was sure of was that right now things were falling apart. I couldn’t keep this up, not for long. Even if I survived Levistus’s current plot, what was to stop him from simply doing it again? Levistus’s power was in his status and his political position, and I had absolutely no way to fight back against that. I had to win every single time; he only had to win once.

A knocking sound brought me out of my reverie. I looked up to see someone tapping on the glass. A woman, with a child by her side and a man behind her. The woman was looking at me; she’d obviously spotted me through the window. She mouthed something.

I looked back curiously. I couldn’t figure out what she was saying. She mouthed again, and pointed at the door.

I got up, crossed the shop floor and opened the door into the cold winter air. ‘Oh, thank you so much,’ the woman said in an American accent. ‘Are you open?’

‘Not exactly…’

‘I’m so sorry, it’s just we saw those little figurines on the shelf and they just look amazing. We’re flying back tomorrow and they’d just make the perfect Christmas present. Could we just come inside? We’ll be five minutes, I promise.’

I looked between the woman, man and child, scanning through the futures. No magic. They were normals. A completely ordinary family.

‘Please?’ the woman asked with a hopeful smile.

I opened my mouth to say no and hesitated. An ordinary family … ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Come on in.’

The five minutes turned into fifteen. By the time the woman had made her purchases and finished her thank yous and left, more customers had followed her in. And by the time those ones were gone, more had come to replace them.

I should probably have shooed them out. I had work to do – researching Symmaris, laying escape plans, trying to figure out ways to defeat a Council resolution. For some reason, though, I didn’t want to. I didn’t understand Light politics, and I didn’t understand the Crusaders or the Council or how I should be dealing with things right now. But this I understood. Dealing with ordinary people, selling them things and answering their sometimes-relevant, mostly-silly questions. At another time it might have annoyed me, but right now, this was something I needed. It felt like a stable point in a world that was spinning out of my control.

The customers kept coming, young and old, families and locals and tourists. A handful had some idea what they were talking about, but they were fewer than usual. It was only three days to Christmas, and most of the people were looking for novelties and stocking fillers. Outside, the sun set and the sky faded from blue to grey to black. The streetlights came on one by one, lighting up the buildings in fluorescent orange. Five o’clock passed, then five-thirty. I walked to the door and flipped the sign from OPEN to CLOSED, then stood by the exit, turning away new customers, waiting for the ones still inside to make their purchases and leave. The numbers dwindled: six, then three, then two.

At last only one person was left: a girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen. She was standing by the magic item section, just on this side of the rope, and was staring at something on the shelves. ‘Hey there,’ I said. ‘We’re closing up for the night.’

‘Oh,’ the girl said. ‘Okay.’ She didn’t move.

I recognised the way she was standing and the shape of her futures. She’d been hanging back so that she could get me alone. It happens often enough that I’m used to it: lots of people are afraid that if they talk about magic where they can be overheard, they’ll be seen as crazy. They’re usually right. ‘Something I can help you with?’

‘Is it…’ The girl hesitated. ‘Is it true you sell focus items?’

‘Just like it says on the sign,’ I said. ‘Focus’ is an obscure enough term that I can put it up on the front of my shop without getting hassled.

The girl reached across the rope to touch something on the magic item shelves. ‘Is that what this is?’

I crossed the shop floor to see what she was looking at. Her fingers were resting on a twisted wand of rowan wood, maybe eight inches long. ‘Good eye.’

‘What does it do?’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Depends who’s using it.’

The girl gave me an uncertain look. She was small, five feet at most, with light brown skin and curly black hair. The futures shifted and I could tell she was trying to figure out what to say. ‘Is it true what they say about you?’

‘Some of the things. You’ll have to be more specific.’

She hesitated. ‘Does your magic actually work?’

I blinked at her. ‘You’re new at this, aren’t you?’

The girl looked embarrassed. ‘Look,’ I said. ‘Why don’t you show me what you can do? I might be able to help.’

Futures flickered, there and gone. In most, the girl said something and did nothing. But in a few – just a few – she chose to trust me, and in those futures I saw her standing before me, concentrating, a tiny pearl of blue light hovering in the palm of her hand. It was only a glimpse, then it was gone, the futures vanishing as she turned down the other path. But it was enough.

‘Sorry.’ She cast her eyes down, took a step towards the door. ‘I’ve got to go.’

‘Water magic, huh?’ I said. ‘How many times have you been able to call up that blue light?’

The girl had been halfway to the door; now she froze. She turned and stared at me, eyes wide.

I checked the futures. ‘Five?’

The girl jumped. ‘Relax,’ I said. ‘I’m not reading your mind.’

‘How did …?’ She swallowed. She didn’t finish the sentence but I could tell she was afraid.

I shook my head. ‘You really are new. No one’s taught you, have they? You have no idea what’s going on.’

The girl didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. ‘Okay,’ I said. I walked away from her, back behind the counter, and sat down. ‘Go lock the door – there’s a switch below the handle. Then grab that chair and bring it over.’

The girl hesitated, and I watched to see what she’d do. It wasn’t the first time I’d been in this sort of situation, and I’d found through trial and error that the best approach is to ask the kid in question to do these things themself. Partly it’s to reassure them that they can get away if they want to, but a lot of it is forcing them to make the decision: trust me, or not? The futures shifted, then settled. She did as I asked, then sat down in the spare chair in front of the counter, hands clasped in front of her.

‘Okay,’ I began. ‘Let’s start at the beginning. You can think of magical talent as a pyramid. The bottom of the pyramid, and the largest section, are the normals. After that you have sensitives, then adepts, then mages…’

We talked for nearly two hours. I told her about the basics of how magic worked, exercises to develop it further, what she could expect as she grew into her power, whether she’d turn into an adept or a mage, and how to tell the difference. Then I gave her a brief rundown on magical society: the Concord, Light mages and Dark, and how they worked. Most of all, I told her how important it was not to draw the wrong kind of attention. Novices are vulnerable, and the younger they are, the more danger they’re in if they’re noticed.

At last I noticed that the girl’s eyes were drooping. She was still trying to pay attention, but she was exhausted. She’d probably keyed herself up for this conversation, working herself up to a state of nervous tension, and now the after-effects were kicking in. ‘That’s enough for now,’ I said. ‘You know the basics. Enough to keep you alive, as long as you don’t do anything stupid.’

The girl nodded and I could sense her relief. ‘What should I do now?’

I tore a note from the pad on the desk and started writing on it. ‘This is the name and number of a mage I know who lives here in London.’ I pushed the note over. ‘Keep practising for a few weeks, then when you’re more confident, give her a call. She might be able to find you a teacher and she might not, but either way, she won’t do anything you don’t want her to. She takes confidentiality seriously.’

The girl took the paper. ‘You’d better get home,’ I told her.

The girl nodded and stood up. She got to the door, unlocked it, paused, then turned back to me. ‘Why are you doing this?’

‘Doing what?’

‘You said Dark mages are out for themselves,’ the girl said. ‘And Light mages just care about following the rules.’

‘Pretty much.’

‘Then why are you helping?’

I shrugged. ‘Somebody has to.’

The girl gave me an odd look, as though she was trying to figure out what I meant. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Bye.’ She paused. ‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome.’ The girl opened the door and disappeared out into the street.

I watched her go through the futures, then stirred and rose to my feet. I locked the door, pulled down the shutters and cleaned the counter. Only as I took a last look around before switching off the lights did I realise that the uneasy feeling I’d had before was gone.

How many people like that girl had come into my shop over the years? Hundreds, maybe thousands. All looking for something, help or advice or direction. Sure, most of the customers who visit my shop don’t get anything out of it but a funny story and a souvenir, but for the young adepts and mages, it’s not funny. It’s deadly serious, and what they learn can make all the difference in the world.

I spend a lot of time and energy protecting myself against people who are trying to hurt me. When you do that, it’s easy to focus on it more than you really ought to. And among other mages, it’s mostly the destructive things I’ve done that I’m remembered for: the Dark mage I studied under, the people I’ve killed in combat. That’s what I’m associated with, and that was why I was being targeted now.

But maybe, at the end of the day, the most important things I’d done with my life wouldn’t end up being the battles, or the escapes or the times I’ve survived against the odds. It’d end up being little things like the meeting with that girl. She’d never told me her name, and there was a good chance I’d never see her again, but the couple of hours I’d just spent had made a difference.

Maybe that wasn’t such a terrible legacy to leave behind.

I switched off the lights and went to check in on Luna.

I took a bus to Islington and walked the rest of the way to the gym, shivering slightly in the cold. Most of the building was dark but I could see light from a couple of top-floor windows. The front door was locked and I had to circle around and enter from the side.

Inside, the building was badly lit and cold. There was no heating, and in the faint light filtering in from the street, I could see my breath in the air. Looking through the futures, I could sense people above, and I started climbing the stairs. As I ascended, I began to hear sounds: stamping feet, and the whoosh of heated air. It sounded like a fight, but I knew it wasn’t combat. The stairs ended in a landing and a hallway, with several open doors. Light was spilling through one of them, and as I approached I saw Chalice silhouetted through the doorway, leaning against the wall. She glanced in my direction, then turned back to the source of the noise. From within the room I felt a surge of fire magic, followed a second later by a rush of movement. I crossed to the doorway and looked inside.

The gym was tall, with high windows looking out on to the night sky. The floor was clear, and standing at the centre were Luna and Variam. Luna was wearing her exercise clothes, and Variam was wearing the black warded cloth he uses for fights. Both were in fighting stances, and they seemed to be so focused on each other that they hadn’t noticed my arrival. I kept quiet, watching.

Luna stepped sideways, circling. She had her whip out, and in my magesight I could see the lash curling away behind her, a line of silver-grey mist, twisting with her movements. Variam didn’t move, but his eyes tracked her. I could sense Luna building for an attack; she was about to strike … now.

The whip lashed out. The strand was thinner than it was at full strength, but still dangerous: Luna’s curse is unpredictable, and even a small dose of that silver mist can be deadly. Variam threw out a hand, and a shield of flame flashed into existence, burning the whip away. Variam struck back, heat bursts exploding in Luna’s path. Just like Luna’s whip, they were invisible to normal eyesight, but they each took a half second to form. Luna broke into a run, swerving from side to side; heat bursts flashed to her left and right, barely missing. Luna’s whip had already reformed, and as another of Variam’s spells struck in front of her Luna skidded to a halt and sent the whip slashing back out. This time, Variam had to bring up his fire shield directly in front of him, interrupting his attacks, and Luna took the opportunity to strike again. Magic flashed back and forth, quick and deadly, orange-red meeting silver-grey, destroying each other when they collided. It was hard to see who had the advantage. Variam was faster, but he had to devote much of his strength to blocking the whip strikes, while his spells kept missing.

I glanced at Chalice. She was observing the battle, apparently absorbed in the exchange. As I watched, she seemed to come to a decision and bent down to reach into her bag. The object she retrieved was a metal cylinder, painted a dark green. A ring and a lever protruded from the top. It almost looked like a—

Chalice pulled the ring out of the cylinder. ‘Grenade!’ she called, and lobbed it underarm at Luna.

I moved instinctively, but Luna was already spinning, her palm coming up. The grenade bounced on the wooden floor, and silver mist surged from Luna’s hand and into the metal. The grenade bounced again, skittered over the floor. Luna stood her ground, the mist of her curse pouring into the thing. The grenade came to a stop only ten feet from her, and—

Phut. There was a fizzling noise, then nothing.

I looked into the futures and saw no explosion. A dud. Luna looked up at Chalice with a satisfied expression.

‘At least you got it this time,’ Variam said, wandering up. He’d stopped his attack as soon as the grenade had been thrown. ‘Hey, Alex.’

‘Hey,’ I said. ‘“This time”?’

‘That wasn’t my fault,’ Luna said. ‘I wasn’t ready.’

I looked at Chalice with raised eyebrows.

‘I thought you were in a hurry,’ Chalice said. For someone who’d just been tossing live grenades around, she looked remarkably unconcerned. She turned back to Luna. ‘Better, but you’re still forcing it. Your magic knows where to go. Trust it.’

‘Yeah, okay.’ Luna looked at me. ‘So? What do you think?’

‘Pretty good,’ I said. I meant it. Variam might be technically an apprentice, but he’s as capable as any Light mage of his age that I’ve met, if not better. He might have been holding back a little, but even so, the fact that Luna could go toe to toe with him was impressive. I didn’t think those heat bursts would have been fatal, but they would have really hurt. ‘You’re not using azimuth shields?’

‘Won’t be any in the test,’ Luna said.

‘You’re taking this seriously, aren’t you?’

‘Like she said, we’re in a hurry.’ Luna walked to the bench and towelled off her face. Now that I looked, I could see that her clothing was damp with sweat. ‘Let’s go again.’

‘Don’t you want to give it a break?’ Variam said.

Luna flashed him a smile. ‘Chicken?’

Variam scowled and walked out on to the floor. Luna tossed the towel back on to the bench and went to join him, unsheathing her whip as she did. The two of them faced off again.

‘What do you think her chances are?’ I said quietly to Chalice. We were standing next to each other against the wall, out of earshot of Luna and Vari.

‘Combat-wise, she’s excellent,’ Chalice replied. Like me, she kept her voice down, and she didn’t take her eyes off Luna. ‘As good as any Light chance apprentice or better.’

‘Your work?’

‘I’ve shown her some new applications, but all of the work has been hers. She practises hard.’

‘I’ve seen,’ I said. Out on the floor, Luna and Variam clashed again. They were more cautious this time, probing. ‘I note you don’t compare her to Dark chance apprentices.’

Chalice glanced at me with a slight smile. ‘Well, that wouldn’t exactly be fair.’

I rolled my eyes.

‘In any case,’ Chalice said, ‘I don’t think she has anything to worry about as regards combat trials. Light mages usually underestimate how effective chance mages can be. I suspect she’ll mop up anything they send at her.’

‘What about non-combat?’

‘You saw what she did with the flashbang,’ Chalice said. ‘That’s one area we’ve been working on. She’s become quite good at hexing objects. Not as good as she is with living things, but most machines and other devices won’t last too long.’

I wondered exactly what ‘working on’ meant in that context, and decided not to ask. If we survived all this, I’d bring it up with Luna later. ‘Okay, that’s her strengths. What about weaknesses?’

‘Touch,’ Chalice said. Out on the gym floor, Luna feinted at Variam, then struck. The whip almost made it past Variam’s shield, and Variam had to jump away. ‘We’ve made progress. Given the timescale, good progress. But it’s still dangerous for Luna to lay hands on anyone else. She can do it, but not consistently.’ Chalice looked at me. ‘Luna’s been in the apprentice programme for over two years, correct?’

‘Over three.’

‘And she competes openly in tournaments.’

I nodded.

‘Then I assume her abilities are well known by now,’ Chalice said. ‘The Light mages are aware of what she can do. And what she can’t.’

I sighed. ‘Yeah.’ It was one of the reasons I’d been reluctant to introduce Luna into magical society. Her curse is a powerful protection, but it’s a lot less effective against an opponent who knows about it. ‘We’ve done our best to stay quiet and I did a little disinformation, but I think at this point we have to assume that it’s public knowledge. Anyone in Light society who wants to find out, can find out.’

‘Then there’s a good chance that the mages setting her test will know that too,’ Chalice said. ‘It’s possible that they’ll miss it, given the short time span … but I doubt it. If they want to target her weak points, that’s where she’s vulnerable.’

‘Is that what you think they’ll do?’

Chalice shrugged. ‘It’s hard to know how Light mages think.’

‘But if you were testing her, forcing her to confront her weaknesses,’ I said quietly, ‘that’s what you’d do. Isn’t it?’

Chalice nodded.

‘Anything we can do?’

‘I’ll give her all the practice I can, and I’ll make sure she’s warned. Beyond that?’ Chalice shrugged again. ‘It’s up to her.’

I gave Chalice a sideways look. Dark mages have a survival-of-the-fittest attitude when it comes to training apprentices, and their usual approach is to chuck the apprentice in at the deep end and see if they learn how to swim. If they do, great. If not … well, that’s their problem. I wondered exactly how much of a Dark mage Chalice was.

‘Have there been any developments on the other matter we discussed?’ Chalice said.

‘Your payment?’ I said. ‘As a matter of fact, yes. It looks like I might be in position to get a very close look at whatever it is that Richard’s after within the next few days. So it seems as though you might get exactly what you want.’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘Funny coincidence, don’t you think?’

Chalice smiled slightly. ‘Lucky me.’

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Lucky you. Why exactly do you want to know what Richard’s up to?’

‘We all have our reasons.’

‘“We all have our reasons” is a valid explanation for deciding to what colour scarf to buy. It is not a valid explanation for wanting inside information on one of the most dangerous and secretive Dark mages in Britain.’

‘Actually, I’d say it is.’

I looked at Chalice for a second. ‘When you came to me earlier this year, the deal you offered was an alliance,’ I said. ‘That goes both ways. If you want my help, I want to know what you’re going to be using this information for.’

Chalice was silent, and I didn’t speak, watching the futures shift. Out on the floor, Luna and Variam had dropped out of their fighting stances and were having a discussion about something or other. ‘All right,’ Chalice said at last.

‘All right?’

‘Find out what Richard is looking for. Find out what it does. Then I’ll tell you exactly why I want to know. And you can decide whether our aims are compatible.’ Chalice looked at me, her dark eyes giving nothing away. ‘Reasonable?’

I looked back at her for a moment, then nodded. ‘All right.’

I stayed at the gym until late, taking turns with Variam to partner for Luna. The more we practised, the more I came to agree with Chalice’s assessment: there were few Light apprentices who could match Luna when it came to combat skill. I couldn’t realistically see any Light mage setting Luna a combat challenge that she couldn’t ace.

Touch, though … well, part of the reason Luna has such a knack for battle magic is that it’s what her curse is good at. Her curse is great at protecting her, and it’s great at hurting others. It’s not hurting others that’s the problem. I’d always known that this was going to be the biggest thing Luna would struggle with, but I’d hoped to give her more time with Chalice before her tests. Luna was better at controlling her curse – she’d even reached the point where she could touch someone briefly, as long as she maintained concentration. (Variam had stood in as the test subject for that, which in my opinion showed a really impressive level of trust.) But would it be enough?

It was almost midnight when we finally ended for the day. Luna was dead on her feet, and I wasn’t much better. It had been a long day. Variam took Luna home, and I gated back to my flat, pulled off my clothes and dropped into bed. The bedroom was cold, and I shivered for a few minutes before the sheets warmed up and I fell asleep.

I drifted through dreams, some comfortable, most not. I was hiding in my room, curled up quiet and still, and someone was nearby. They were looking for me, and they were going to come inside, but I stayed as quiet as I could, hoping that they’d go away, even when I knew they were going to find me.

I didn’t notice at first when my room began to change and brighten. Only when the light crept out to fill the room did I open my eyes. The whole far wall was bare to the outside, leading out on to a balcony; gauzy white curtains were the only barrier, stirring gently in the wind. The air blew against my face, warm and dry. I rose to my feet and walked outside.

The light was bright, dazzling, and I had to shield my eyes to look around. I was standing on the balcony of a tall building made of yellowish stone. Below was an open plaza, and all around was a deserted city, empty doors and windows looking back at me from buildings made of stone and brick. Trees grew amid the streets, their green tops showing from between the rooftops, green and vibrant. The city didn’t feel inhabited, not exactly, but it didn’t feel empty either. Leaves stirred in the wind, and birds circled against the sky, far above. I could hear sounds of life if I stood and listened; distant murmurs, maybe of traffic, maybe of people. Not here, not coming closer, but not far either, as though I could find them if I only knew where to look.

I turned around to see that the room behind me was gone. I was standing on an open, square balcony, chest-high railings surrounding it, the stones cracked and weathered. At the centre, resting in a square of packed earth, was a thick tree growing upwards into the sky. In the shade beneath the tree was a white stone bench.

‘You can come out,’ I said to the balcony.

A girl stepped out from behind the tree. She was small, with short red hair. Back when she’d been alive, she’d always been full of life and movement, but she was standing still now, hands on her hips, staring at me. We looked at each other for a moment.

‘You don’t look happy,’ I said at last.

‘You haven’t done what you promised,’ Shireen said.

I walked forward, coming under the tree. It was still warm even in the shade. I sat down on the stone bench, not meeting Shireen’s gaze. ‘Things have been … difficult.’

Shireen didn’t sit down. ‘You know what you need to do,’ she said. ‘You told me you’d do it.’

‘That was before Richard came back. Things are different now.’

‘No, they’re not.’

I sighed. ‘I guess to you they aren’t.’

Like me, Shireen and Rachel had been Richard’s apprentices, back when we’d all been teenagers still growing into our powers. It had worked out badly for me, but worse for them. Rachel had Harvested Shireen, taking Shireen’s power into herself and killing her in the process. It had also driven Rachel insane. When I saw Rachel next, she called herself Deleo, and there was very little left in her of the girl I’d once known.

Yet somehow, Shireen’s shade didn’t want revenge. She wanted me to help Rachel, and she’d made me promise to redeem her. On one level, I guess it said something good about Shireen that she could still want something like that. If I were murdered, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be so forgiving. On the other hand, I had absolutely no idea how to do what Shireen wanted. And that was a problem, because Shireen wasn’t going away … and neither was Rachel.

‘Rachel is still there,’ Shireen said. ‘Nothing’s changed.’

‘I know.’ I looked up at Shireen. ‘But that doesn’t mean I can fix it. What am I supposed to do, ask her nicely?’

‘You’re the diviner,’ Shireen said. The past times I’d met her here, she’d smiled a lot, but she wasn’t smiling now. ‘Think of something.’

‘Rachel hates me,’ I said. ‘You said it yourself. I don’t think she’d have listened to me even before. And now Richard’s back, and he has ten times the influence over her that I do.’

‘You were apprentices together,’ Shireen said. ‘That counts for more than you think.’

‘Doesn’t make her hate me any less. Actually, I’m pretty sure it makes her hate me more.’

‘But she pays attention to you.’

‘She pays a lot more attention to you.’ I twisted around to look at Shireen. ‘Aren’t you a lot better suited to this than I am? You used to be best friends, you’ve got some major guilt leverage going on – oh, and there’s the little detail that you’re in her head and she can’t kill you to shut you up. Wouldn’t it make more sense for this job to go to the one who Rachel can’t disintegrate when she gets sick of talking to them?’

‘I can’t.’

‘I know you can talk to her. I’ve seen her.’

‘I … slip.’ Shireen gazed over my shoulder, into the distance. ‘I lose time. I don’t know why. Sometimes I blink, and it’s been hours. Days, even. It happens more often when Cinder’s there. I think something about him … he keeps me away. The other too.’ Shireen focused on me. ‘But when you’re there, it’s easier. I can talk more easily to Rachel too. It’s the connection you have. I think it makes it harder for her to forget.’

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Any chance I could just hang around somewhere nearby and let you do the talking?’

‘She won’t listen,’ Shireen said. ‘I’ve tried. I’m too close. All I know is what she knows, what she sees. I haven’t got anything else to offer. You do.’

‘And when Richard tells her to kill me for trying?’

‘Richard doesn’t want to kill you.’

That I had to admit was true. Either he just didn’t care, or he had something else in mind, which was something I really didn’t want to think about. ‘Yeah, well, he’s still pulling the strings.’

‘Fine.’ Shireen sighed. ‘I didn’t want to have to persuade you this way, but I guess there’s nothing for it. When I said I wanted you to change Rachel’s path, I wasn’t just hoping. I know it’s possible.’

‘How?’

‘The same way I knew to give you that bit of advice about the fateweaver.’

‘You went to a dragon?’ I said curiously. ‘Do they exist here?’

‘Yes. And before you ask, yes, the same one. It told me that there’ll come a time when Rachel will have to make a choice. Either she stands with Richard, or she rejects him. If she turns against him, the way you did, then she’ll be free of him for ever. It’ll hurt Richard badly, take away his strongest weapon. But if she chooses to stay with him, to follow Richard until the end … then that’s it. Richard wins. And in that future, you die.’

I felt a chill. I don’t know much about dragons – not many people do – but if they’re not actually omniscient, they’re the closest thing you’re going to get to it short of meeting God. The last prophecy Shireen had told me had been from a dragon, and it had been very, very accurate. ‘What do you mean, Richard wins? How?’

Shireen shook her head.

‘That’s it?’ I said. ‘It all comes down to Rachel rejecting Richard?’

‘As far as I know.’

‘Then if it’s true – and I hope it isn’t – we’re screwed. She went all in when she murdered you, and she’s had ten years to double down on that. What am I possibly going to say to her that’s going to convince her to turn back now?’

Shireen shrugged. ‘I guess you’d better think of something.’

‘Thanks.’

We sat in silence for a little while. Birdsong drifted down from above, and a warm breeze blew across the balcony. Elsewhere is a dangerous place, but I find it more comfortable than I once did. Shireen once told me that it grew easier to navigate this place the more often you came. ‘There’s something else I need you to do,’ Shireen said. ‘Something I need you to find out about.’

‘Sure,’ I said resignedly. ‘Why not?’

‘I need you to see what you can learn about creatures that grant wishes.’

I blinked. ‘What kind?’

‘Any kind.’

I puzzled over it for a second. ‘Why do you want to know about that?’

‘It’s just an idea,’ Shireen said. ‘If I’m wrong, it won’t matter. If I’m right…’ She hesitated. ‘Let’s hope I’m not right. Oh, and one other thing – I don’t think you’ll find out anything useful from the Light mages. I’ve got the feeling this is something old.’

‘Light mages have histories.’

‘I’m not sure this would be in them.’

‘You’re being cryptic, aren’t you?’

‘Kinda. There’s a reason. Tell you later.’ Shireen got to her feet. ‘You’d better go. Short-term problems and all that.’

I stood. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You remember those adept kids who were after you?’

‘The Nightstalkers?’ I said. It had been the same time I’d been shown what had really happened to Shireen. ‘Kind of hard to forget.’

‘That sort of thing.’ Shireen walked away around the tree, waving over her shoulder. ‘Later!’

I watched her go, frowning. What do you mean, short-term problems? The last time she’d said that, it had meant …

Suddenly I wanted to get out of Elsewhere, right now. I focused on calling myself back to my body, willing the empty city to disappear. Wake up, wake up, wake up wake up wake up wake—