“Alright,” Lena announced to everyone in the throne room. “I’m ready.”

Elend drew in a deep breath, and the Dragonlord strode over to the wooden table. They’d waited all night as she finished bonding the last crystal. Now, the first rays of sunlight shone over Tureko’s skyline, shrouded by clouds of rising smoke.

Curious that Antano would push the Ethersmith so hard in this final stretch—almost as if he were in a hurry. Perhaps this battle between the Grevandi and the Unmarked had attracted foreign eyes? Or maybe the footage had leaked across the border, and Irina had seen it? One glimpse of Relia on camera, and she’d be here within the day.

Unfortunately, Elend gained nothing by stalling. Every second he wasted here, he left his students alone in an active war zone.

Antano reached the table in five quick strides, and Elend and Lena rose to their feet. “You can remove the cuffs?” he clarified. “All five at once?”

She gave a nod that was almost like a bow. “Yes, Dragonlord.”

“Good.” His voice cut the air like a blade, but the resonance still reached every corner of the room. “Then let us begin.”

They’d both prepared written oaths earlier that evening, debating the specifics for hours on end. But they’d waited until the last minute to speak the oaths themselves.

Elend extended his right hand. Antano did likewise, and they clasped each other’s wrists. The Dragonlord’s skin was rough and hot like a boulder under the desert sun. Mana swirled around their arms in colored streaks of fire and plasma. The heat reached all the way to Elend’s face, and it felt like standing too close to a bonfire. But he also caught hints of gravity mana there as well.

Three aspects in one? Curious. Then again, it made sense. You needed more than raw power and grit to become the pack leader.

Elend added his dream mana into the mix. It took him the better part of a minute to fill his half, and the cuffs sent waves of pain racing up his arm. Intention mattered most in soul oaths, but intention didn’t exist in a vacuum. As with all techniques, you needed mana to shape and transport it.

And of course, their mana amounts had to be equal. Otherwise, one party could gain an advantage over the other. Antano had used enough to cause Elend discomfort, but not so much that they’d be waiting all night for him to catch up.

Finally, when both sets swirled in balance, Elend gave his enemy a polite nod. “After you.”

The Dragonlord inclined his head. “I, Axel Antano, Dragonlord of Creta, hereby swear the following on my soul. From the moment those cuffs leave Elend Darklight’s body, I will not attempt to attack him or prevent him from leaving this nation. I will not harm his family, his students, or any member of his household except in self-defense. I will not allow others to attack him on my behalf. I will speak no words of his time here in Creta, nor will I allow anyone else to speak them on my behalf. As far as the world is concerned, we’ve never even met.”

He turned to face Lena. “I will not interfere with the Ethersmithing process, or attempt to turn it to my advantage. I will not allow others to interfere on my behalf. I will take the four Etherite cuffs from the table, but I will make no move to take the collar.”

Elend paid close attention as the Dragonlord spoke, listening for any obvious loopholes or omissions. Not that exact words mattered here—Elend’s own willpower and intention would bind the Dragonlord to his oath. The words were just a representation of their agreement. For example, even though they hadn’t spoken of it, the word “harm” could extend to political, economic, or psychological warfare.

Still, history was filled with stories of Mana Artists escaping soul bonds with clever tricks. Most of those stories were embellished, but one could never be too careful.

Once the Dragonlord had finished, Elend wasted no time. “I, Elend Darklight, professor of Koreldon University, hereby swear the following on my soul. From the moment these cuffs leave my body, I will gather my students and leave this nation as quickly as possible. I will not attempt to harm the Dragonlord, his family, or his armies except in self-defense. I will not allow others to attack them on my behalf. I will speak nothing of my time here in Creta, and I won’t attempt to return once I’m gone.”

He steadied his cycling as he eyed Lena. “I will not interfere with the Ethersmithing process, or attempt to turn it to my advantage. I will not allow others to interfere on my behalf. I will take the Etherite collar from the table, but I will make no move to retrieve the four cuffs.”

The mana spun faster around their wrists, and they sealed the bond for a period of twenty years. Elend couldn’t complain about that part. It wasn’t as if he wanted to return here on holiday. Honestly, the hardest part would be not sharing this story with Irina once he got home.

No sooner had they sealed the oath than Elend felt an overwhelming compulsion. It manifested as a physical pain in his soul. Sweat threatened to break the surface of his skin, and he felt physically sick. Antano would be suspicious if he waited another second.

‘Glim,’ he said inside his head. ‘If you can hear me, then you need to stop.’

She couldn’t hear him, of course. They’d prepared for this moment, putting up a mental barrier between them. The barrier itself was built like a soul oath, and no communication could pass through—not until they were free from this tower.

Elend raced through possibilities, scrambling desperately for a way around the barrier. There were none. He and Glim had spent weeks preparing for this moment, considering every angle.

Still, his enemy had a Grandmaster’s perception, and he narrowed his golden eyes. “Something wrong, professor?”

“I’ve always been a rebel at heart,” Elend said with a forced smile. “Soul oaths have never suited me.”

Antano eyed him for several more seconds, but he eventually turned back to the Ethersmith. “The oaths are sworn. You may begin.”

Lena shifted her gaze to Elend, then she closed her eyes in concentration. Elend remained as still as a statue, both in body and mind. He couldn’t even think about interfering.

That was Glim’s job.

He’d spent the past two weeks filling his imaginary friend with every drop of mana he could spare. Now, she was a Grandmaster Dream Artist in her own right. They’d also learned a great deal about Ethersmithing, asking Lena questions as she worked, studying the patterns of her thoughts.

Elend was a Mana Artist, not an Aeon. Without an Aeons crystal soul, he had no chance of becoming an Ethersmith himself. But he didn’t need to. He understood the theory enough to teach it to Glim.

Several seconds passed, then the crystals vanished from Elend’s limbs and throat, leaving simple impedium bands behind.

Elend worked his fingers between the wrist bands, snapping them like brittle iron. The band on his throat came next, then the ones around his ankles.

Finally, Elend cycled his mana. It felt like he’d been curled in the fetal position for weeks, and now he could finally stand. The force of his power filled the room, and he would have knocked the guards off their feet if not for his oaths.

He flared his Cloak technique, and he felt strong enough to tear this building apart with his bare hands. Missiles gathered in his palms, and they would have shot through ten floors if he hadn’t stopped them.

Elend did this all in the space of two breaths. By the time he looked up again, a row of glowing crystals sat on the table.

The Dragonlord collected the four cuffs, examining them with undisguised awe. Elend approached the collar more slowly.

Did it work?

Glim was supposed to be working a Circuit technique on Lena’s mind. This wasn’t enslavement, they’d reasoned. This was just good old-fashioned deception. Glim didn’t dominate Lena’s thoughts or influence her decision. She’d only altered a single parameter of the Ethersmith’s technique.

Lena believed she was transferring cuffs onto the table. Instead, she’d put them right back in Elend’s possession. At the same time, Glim had conjured four exact replicas on the table. And because Elend had given Glim a Grandmaster’s power, that technique should also be enough to fool the entire room. That included the Dragonlord, and even Elend himself.

Unfortunately, this also meant he had no way of confirming it. All he could do was leave as planned.

Elend grabbed his collar from the table and strode toward the middle of the throne room beneath the glass dome’s apex.

“You should probably open the sky door now,” Elend announced to no one in particular. “It looks expensive, and I did swear to make haste as I left.”

Antano waved a hand, and a Fang scrambled with the controls across the room. The circular glass door slid open above Elend’s head, letting in a rush of cool morning air.

Elend shot a burst of pure mana into the obsidian tiles, propelling his body upward through the opening.

The blast carried him fifty feet into the air, and Tureko’s skyline stretched for miles around. The wind struck his face, and he might have struggled to keep his eyes open if not for the strength of his Grandmaster’s body.

Still soaring upward, Elend shot more mana from his palms and formed a Construct in the shape of a hang glider. He’d memorized this design decades ago, and practiced it over a thousand times. You never knew when you might need to jump off a skyscraper, after all.

“Glim,” Elend shouted over the wind. “Did it work?”

‘At last.’ Wild laughter echoed in his mind. ‘The power of Angels in the palm of my hand. After today, all will bow to their new empress. Especially you, foolish human. You, who were so distracted by your enemies of flesh and blood. You, who were so focused on your goals, but utterly blind to—’

“Enough jokes,” Elend interrupted. “Did you get the cuffs?”

“Of course,” Glim said in a cheerful voice. She manifested as a Missile beside him, carrying all five crystals on a trail of blue mana. The fake collar vanished to mist in Elend’s hand.

He smiled. “Good work. Now let's save the kids.”

Dream mana flowed out from his chest, hands, and feet, swirling around his body like a tornado. It came so easily now that he was a proper Grandmaster again. As easy as taking a breath.

The glider soared east through the air currents, and they crossed the river to where the Grevandi clashed with the Unmarked. Explosions still echoed from the maze of city streets, and dark clouds of smoke blocked out the sun.

Elend stretched out with his mana, feeling the minds of every fighter and civilian down below. Then he began his ultimate Ritual technique.