Euryphel snapped in Ian’s face. “Focus.”

Ian squeezed his eyes shut before reopening them. “You sound like Soolemar.”

Euryphel sighed. “Ian, we’ve been doing this for only an hour.”

Ian raised an eyebrow, his lips curling downward. “Eury...I don't think I’m absorbing anything. One plan blends into the next. I have no idea how you keep it all straight.”

Perhaps I’m going about this all wrong, Euryphel thought, his eyes tracing the tiny text on his projection. “It might help to start with the fundamentals–the factors I considered to create these possible paths forward.”

Ian nodded and sat up a bit straighter. “Can’t hurt.”

Euryphel snorted. “What do you think was consideration number one?”

Ian placed a finger to his lips in contemplation. “Hold that thought. First off, I still have no idea how you’ll know when Ari arrives: You never said.”

I definitely told...him...The prince’s lips twitched. Damn, that might’ve been in a scenario. “Originally I planned to check every minute I was awake, but as that’s not possible, I’m planning to check on the outside at least every day. I left a few hours ago with Bluebird while you were meditating.”

“Wait, you took Bluebird?”

The glosSword’s eyes flashed blue, its feet digging into Ian’s shoulders. “Yes, Iggy! The Crowned Prime needed help reaching the rift exit! I assisted.”

Euryphel’s mouth tightened at the use of his former title. Ian seemed to notice, his eyebrows falling, but he moved on with the previous topic. “What happens when you check outside? Do you just know when Ari’s coming?”

“From within the Jermal Trench’s depths it would be difficult to tell unless her arrival is imminent. Instead I’ll be counting on the public to release news of her arrival.”

“...The news?”

Eury smiled. “Mundane news will get the information out a few hours later than if I had a direct line to people watching for Ari’s descent, but that shouldn’t matter. With the optical Light arrays they have at all the largest universities, the world will know of Ari’s arrival at least a day before she touches down. As soon as we know she’s coming, we can monitor the situation more frequently.”

“Do descendants travel for so long in the void close to our world?” Ian murmured, his gaze turning to the nethereal lightning arcing overhead.

“They’ve taken as long as sixty-four hours to reach our surface,” Euryphel added. “It’s possible they travel for even longer in the void before reaching us, but we just can’t see far away in enough clarity.”

Ian sighed. “I can’t believe none of the ascendant returnees bother to share their knowledge with anyone else.”

Euryphel chuckled. “Remember that your sample size is all people who returned from their ascension. They might not be keen on helping others follow their same path.”

Ian hummed in understanding. “I suppose...uh, what were we discussing exactly?”

Euryphel rubbed the bridge of his nose. “The first thing I considered when developing my plans...what was it?”

Ian leaned back on his stool and a bone chairback materialized behind him, allowing him to recline without falling over. “Getting from the rift to...Ari?”

Euryphel nodded. “That’s half of it. More specifically, where do all of these arcs terminate?” Euryphel asked, stroking his hand through the arcing lines on the projected map.

“The Cuna,” Ian replied. “I know you want to destroy it, but I don’t understand why that’s so important.”

“It’s the symbolic and literal seat of the Eldemari,” Euryphel explained. “But more fundamentally, it’s the cornerstone for her End arrays. Shatter the Cuna, unmake the Eldemari and end her control over even her own citizens.”

Ian’s eyes narrowed. “I doubt the Eldemari’s going to let us destroy everything without ensnaring us with End.”

“Ian...what have we been discussing the past hour?”

“...How to invade Selejo?”

Eury took in a deep breath. “The biggest obstacle to our success is reaching the Selejan mainland undetected and then either kiting Ari across the country or luring her to the city of Cunabulus.”

Ian sighed. “Sorry. Let me explain why I’m still confused.” He leaned into the projection map and pointed to the label above a single arc. “This. It says, ‘Eury utilizes secret technique to prevent Eldemari powers.’ This is the root arc for nearly half of the lines on this map.”

“What about it?”

“‘Secret technique’ is the cornerstone of our strategy?”

“You’ve already seen me use the technique before. I developed it when we trained together in preparation for your ascension.”

Ian shook his head. “Have you actually used it on the Eldemari before, or even another End practitioner?”

Have I...? Euryphel blinked, then laughed. “Y’jeni, Ian, of course I’ve tried it on other End practitioners. Though to answer the first question, I haven’t used it on the Eldemari.”

“You haven’t used it on any End practitioners of higher affinity than yourself, then,” Ian supposed.

“But I have used it on you,” the prince retorted. I was able to nearly poke your eyes out and you’re a half-step ascendant. “And while you can stop using your energy to attack me directly, the Eldemari can’t: she’ll be unable to affect me. The trick is ensuring I’m able to protect you as well as myself, though I think we can figure out a way in the coming days.”

“And if we can’t find a way?” Ian murmured.

Euryphel shrugged. “We have innumerable other possibilities. This here is the product of a single afternoon brainstorm: We can always add more.”

Ian nodded his head slowly. “Okay. First, I want you to try your technique on me. Not in a scenario: I want to remember seeing you try for the first time.”

Euryphel narrowed his eyes. “Why do I get the feeling you’re expecting a different outcome from the last time I practiced with you?”

Ian snorted. “Because I am.”

The prince’s lips quirked into a grin. He straightened to a casual stance, his bare feet gripping the smooth bones. “Fine. Try to use your Death energy on me.”

Euryphel reacted as soon as Ian’s energy reached his body. He traced the ethereal essence in Ian’s energy to the source, almost like electricity arcing to ground. Euryphel then separated his End avatar from his body and had the avatar strangle its own neck.

Euryphel previously used his technique to induce synchronized movement in Ian’s body. While Euryphel exerted precise control to separate his physical body from the ethereal body of his End avatar, Ian had no such ability: If his End avatar moved, so would his physical self.

Ian’s hand strained toward his throat, the practitioner making every effort to still its advance. Euryphel frowned, not expecting Ian to muster any form of resistance. The prince needed to actively keep his jaw from dropping when Ian rebuffed his attack after two seconds of teeth-grinding concentration, freeing himself to directly attack the prince without repercussion.

He’s improved again, Euryphel thought, his mind swirling with confusion. What did he really learn from Soolemar? This is more than just dealing with souls.

Euryphel held up a hand to halt the activity, his brow furrowing. “Ian, how did you defend against me?”

Ian smiled. “I suspected you might just be controlling ethereal essence.”

Ian can touch the ethereal? “How do you control your ethereal essence if not with an End avatar?” Euryphel asked. As far as he understood, people needed to be End practitioners to touch the ethereal body.

Ian paused for a moment, his hand massaging his jaw. “Ethereal energy is the amniotic fluid of the soul.”

Euryphel gave him an unamused expression. “Please elaborate.”

“I have an ethereal body,” Ian explained, messy bangs falling into his eyes. “I can spool strands of my own ethereal essence to, uh, do things.”

Euryphel nodded. “An End avatar, sometimes referred to as an ethereal body.” Everyone has an ethereal body that mirrors their own. Parts of it can be carefully formed and sculpted, diverging from the physical self...but spooling off strands of it? I haven’t heard of people doing that before.

“Soolemar taught me how,” Ian continued. “Working with the ethereal domain was the core focus of everything. You can’t control the soul without touching ethereal essence.

Euryphel looked over at the map’s many lines of possible plans. “Ian, can we go over everything new you learned with Soolemar? I have a feeling some of these plans are going to change.”

—

Ian spent the next minute giving Euryphel a brief overview of what he’d learned about necromancy. He took out his mannequin and used it to demonstrate some of the most basic concepts of using a soul to control a construct.

“I never thought of Death being related to End, but I suppose they’re ideologically inseparable,” Euryphel murmured, his hands trailing over the mannequin’s wooden surface.

“Eury...there’s one last thing, something that Soolemar never taught me. Humor me: What happens to someone’s fate when they die?”

The prince looked up and gave him a blank stare. “Their End arrows disappear. Why?”

“How long does it take for arrows to disappear?”

Euryphel shook his head. “It’s instantaneous as soon as someone’s never coming back. It’s the truest mark that someone will never be resuscitated. It’s the severing of the future, the erasure of possibility.”

Ian froze. “But what if someone is revived when they’re already past that point of no return?”

Euryphel scoffed. “If they’re not past that point, they’ll still have their arrows.”

Ian understood where Euryphel was coming from, but he couldn’t forget the image of Zilverna’s untethered soul starting to separate from his body. The teen had been dead.

“There’s always an exception,” Ian murmured. “Has there been any news of the Eldemari or Zilverna?”

“Since I checked outside a few hours ago? Nothing.”

They must be covering up what happened, Ian thought. “Look, I killed Zilverna. His physical body could be resuscitated and was mostly-undamaged; that wasn’t the problem. I killed him with a surge of Death energy that severed the bindings between his soul and his body. He would never have come back even if his body and mind were in perfect condition.”

“But he’s not dead. You would’ve mentioned it, I hope,” the prince added, chuckling lightly, though the expression didn’t reach his eyes.

Ian sighed, and lowered his voice. “I brought him back.”

Euryphel craned his ear. “Sounds like textbook resuscitation.”

Ian rubbed his face with a hand. “No, it was different. Trust me. I’ve tried reviving people before. I know how to heal the body and return the mind if it’s still possible to do so.”

The prince nodded. “...I trust you.”

Ian smiled, though he understood Euryphel’s doubts. Ian also wanted to confirm that what he was doing was really what he suspected: the revival of a pruned path.

He looked up at Euryphel, his eyes glinting violet and green from the overhead light. “Let me try it on myself in a loop.”

“Ian...what are you trying to prove?”

“You said that arrows of fate disappear when someone dies. The Eldemari can’t control that which doesn’t exist.”

Euryphel blinked. “But you’ll be dead. Ian, you’ve told me before that Soolemar couldn't ascend because he perfected his craft.”

Ian shook his head. “Or think of it from another angle: Maybe I’ll be able to stop Ari’s descent altogether and put an end to this madness.”

The prince flexed a hand. “I don’t think so, not unless you plan to stay dead permanently. I wouldn’t bet the future on it. Besides, it’s too late at this point: The Eldemari would only have your word to go on that the descendent was no longer coming. If you don’t ascend she’ll kill you.”

Euryphel has a point, Ian thought, sighing. What would stop Ari or another descendant coming for him unless he stayed dead? He might be able to confuse them for a period of time, but as soon as he lifted the charade...

You really never changed from the person you once were, Ian thought, suddenly overcome with self-loathing. You’re selfish and afraid. You’re afraid of a challenge you can’t win, terrified of an uncertain future. If all you want to do all day is what you’re good at, you’ll never become the kind of person you want to be.

Ian turned away, his knuckles white. He fixed his gaze on the nethereal energy. “Sorry.”

Euryphel froze. “For what?”

Ian spoke slowly, his voice measured. “I’m still trying to run away. Even after everything you’ve done for me, everything you’ve sacrificed, I’m still trying to find an easy way out, a path of least resistance. For that, I’m sorry.”

Euryphel walked over, his expression solemn. He leaned down and pulled Ian into a side hug. “It’s hard to be brave,” he whispered.

“It shouldn’t be! Not if you’re me!” Ian hissed. He could feel heat rising to his face. “I’m the most powerful person I’ve ever met, Euryphel. I shouldn’t be afraid. I feel like I should know what to do but...I don’t.”

“Power comes in different forms than raw power, Ian. It’s connections and wisdom. You might have raw power, but you’re young.”

Ian snorted. “You’re also young, and yet you’re able to sit down and come up with a hundred different contingencies for an attack on Cunabulus, versus me who’s just sitting around playing with necromancy, of all things.”

Euryphel sighed. “Didn’t you just say you thought you had a potential way to confound the powers of the Eldemari using necromancy? That doesn’t sound like playing around.”

Ian grunted.

Euryphel stood up. “Weren’t you going to test it in a scenario?”

Ian blinked and turned toward the prince. “Are you ready?”

The prince snorted. “You’re the one who’s going to try killing yourself, and you have the gall to call yourself a coward.”

Ian rolled his eyes. “That’s completely different.” It’s not like I’m a stranger to dying.

Euryphel narrowed his eyes, his lips curling downward. “I don’t think it is.”

Ian took in a deep breath and stood up. “Regardless...I’m ready when you are.”

“Then let’s start.”