“I couldn’t have returned without your ring,” Damien said, running his thumb alongside it. “I had no idea there was Ether in it.”

“It was just a bauble,” Sylph admitted. “I had no idea how useful it would be. We’re really lucky that vendor was in town, or who knows what would have happened.”

“I’d rather not think about it,” Damien said. He paused for a moment. “And there’s one more thing. It’s about Moon.”

“Did you find him?” Sylph asked.

“Not exactly. I think he’s dead,” Damien replied. “Kind of, at least.”

“What does that mean?”

“Unless I’ve seriously missed something, I think Moon was me, just from a previous Cycle. We looked exactly the same.”

“How is that possible? I thought all mortals were killed when the Cycle reset,” Sylph said with a frown. “You’re sure it wasn’t an illusion or disguise of some sort?”

“Pretty sure. He seemed to know about me and he’s the one that messed with everything to get things where they are now. Unfortunately, he really didn’t tell me what his actual goals were beyond stopping the Void and the Corruption.”

“Why is it that every time we get a few answers, all we end up with is more questions?” Sylph asked, shaking her head. “Maybe more of his stuff has information you can use?”

“It’s possible, but I don’t know where I’d look and I’m not eager to return to the void.”

“That’s more than understandable. I don’t want you to either - not if we can avoid it.”

“But now it’s your turn. What happened once I fell into the Void?”

“Derrod cleaned up the rest of the Corruption and spent some time trying to find you,” Sylph said, pressing her lips together. “Maybe an hour. Obviously, he found nothing. He declared that you’d been killed by the Corruption, then put me under arrest claiming that I was working with Second. Quinlan and some other students tried to protest, but he ignored them. Derrod just gathered all the other students up and brought them through a portal back to Blackmist.”

Damien’s hands clenched. “Of course he did. did he actually manage to find something to latch onto that he could blame you with? Or did he just spout complete nonsense?”

“Delph interceded almost as soon as we got back. That saved me from getting thrown in a dungeon, but I was pretty much under watch for several days. They had me locked up in a room somewhere at the north of campus. Delph trained with me when he could, but Derrod was guarding the door and made it pretty hard. Eventually, Dredd came with Delph and made a portal for me to escape while Delph’s companion took my place. I’ve been training here ever since.”

“What about the other students?” Damien asked. “Other than Nolan of course. Did anyone try to help?”

“Hard to say,” Sylph replied with a shrug. “Aven was out of it when we got back and Cheese only seemed concerned with her. Quinlan tried to say something but basically got ignored and Mark was unconscious from some fight. Delph told me that Mark and Nolan both tried visiting at some point, but neither were able to get past Derrod.”

“He’s such an idiot,” Damien said, shaking his head. “He saw us both fighting Second as hard as we could. I don’t see why he’d believe that this was all just some stupid plot.”

“Probably because he’s desperate to find something that he can control,” Sylph said. “I can relate to that, even if his manner of doing it is perverse. I bet it was hard for him to accept that a pair of Year Twos were almost able to do what he couldn’t.”

“Good,” Damien said with a snort. “He deserves worse. We need to make sure he can’t get close to you again.”

“I can take care of myself,” Sylph said gently. “He got me off guard because of how tired the fight with Second made me. I’m not some flower to be protected, Damien. We can’t just hide.”

“Right, I know. I’m sorry,” Damien said with a weary sigh. “I just… there are too many fronts to this fight, Sylph. Why is everyone against us?”

“We aren’t completely alone. Delph, Dredd, and the other students are with us. I’m sure a lot more people would be too, when things really come down to it.”

“We just have to make sure they don’t kill us before then, I guess.”

Sylph laughed and hugged him. They sat there for a few moments, silent. Then Henry grumbled.

“I’m not leaving right after you got back. Do weird human things later.”

Damien rolled his eyes. He went to respond, but a wave of exhaustion rolled over him and a yawn replaced the words in his mouth.

“I think I need to sleep,” Damien muttered, his eyelids growing droopier by the second. Sylph scooted to the side and Damien took the wordless invite to lie down on the mattress. It was far from the most comfortable thing he’d ever slept on, but at the moment, it felt like heaven.

Exhaustion took him and he drifted off to sleep for the first time in weeks.

***

It was dark and cold. Damien grimaced as cold grass tickled his backside. The only light in the sky came from the glimmering blue moon far in the sky above. There was barely enough to see his hands when he held them right up in front of his nose. It took him a moment to realize he was in his mindscape.

“Henry?” Damien called. The words vanished into the dark surrounding him, but there was no response.

“Herald?”

Neither responded. A faint breeze brushed across his exposed back, bringing goosebumps up along his flesh.

Damien tried to materialize his clothes, but nothing happened. His brow furrowed and he looked around fruitlessly.

“Hello? Anyone?”

Another breeze rustled his hair. Damien turned in its direction, walking forward blindly with his hands out before him.

They met stone. With a crackle, a faint orange light sparked in the darkness. A lone lantern hung from rickety pole above him, illuminating a stone basin that looked identical to the one Moon had in the Void.

The lantern swung in the breeze, its candle threatening to go out at any moment. Damien peered into the water within the basin, squinting in the dim light to make out his reflection.

His eyes were pitch black. Inky liquid started pouring down his cheeks in the reflection, tracing invisible runes across his face.

Damien jerked back and raised a hand to his face, but it was dry. He looked back down at the bowl, where the black tears were now dripping down his chin and onto his bare body.

“What’s going on?” Damien whispered, unable to pull himself away from the basin a second time. His reflection’s mouth remained flat as he spoke.

Uneasiness built in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know how, but he was absolutely certain that something was wrong. A sense of primal terror danced at the edges of the world around him and the candle sputtered, starting to dim.

A burst of purple light lit up the hillside. The lantern and basin vanished and Henry appeared beside Damien in his humanoid form, his numerous eyes narrow.

“Henry?” Damien asked, blinking. “What was that?”

“The Void. Partially, at least. I could sense Void magic, but you were somehow hidden within your own mind. I couldn’t find you for a little while,” Henry replied. “How did you get here? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I think,” Damien replied, unable to shake the basin from his mind. “And I don’t know, I just woke up here.”

“You’re still asleep, but the Void isn’t intelligent. It just… is. You’re sure you didn’t bring yourself here on accident somehow?”

“Yeah,” Damien replied. “I just went to bed and woke up on the grass like normal, just it was really dark and you weren’t here. Herald wasn’t either.”

“That’s concerning,” Henry muttered. “I wonder if it’s got to do with those runes on you. I don’t recognize some of them, but they aren’t new. It almost looks like they’re made up, but then they wouldn’t do anything. Moon didn’t tell you everything.”

“I could tell,” Damien replied. “He barely told me anything, actually. If I wasn’t so desperate to get out of the Void, I don’t think I would have trusted him.”

“Speaking of trust,” Henry drawled. “What’s going on with Herald? Why did it help you?”

“I think I was too stubborn, but I really don’t know. It was still bound by our contract, so it couldn’t hurt me, so I was just going to wait it out in the Void. It wanted to get back on the Mortal Plane to fight the Corruption, so it agreed to work with me for the time being.”

“Until it finds a way to do what it wants without breaking the contract,” Henry concluded. “Dangerous. But I’m not sure we can reseal the runes on your chest anymore. They’re worked into the new ones that Moon gave you.”

“I noticed,” Damien said grimly. “I’m going to need it spend some time figuring out exactly how to use these and how to work with Void magic.”

“I really don’t like it, but you’re right,” Henry reluctantly agreed. “I don’t think you’re ready to use Void magic. It requires incredible mastery over the original school of magic you’re working with. If Herald hadn’t made the rune circle for your portal, you could have done incredible damage to yourself.”

“Do I have much of a choice?” Damien asked. “Second isn’t going to wait around.”

“No, he won’t,” Henry agreed. “Not if he thinks he has he advantage. We need to buy more time. You just aren’t ready to fight him yet.”

“Sylph and I weren’t doing too bad the last time.”

“You had the element of surprise, and all you managed to do was push him through a portal. That surprise is the only reason Second hasn’t acted again. He’s very methodical, and he’s going to wait until he’s certain he can get what he wanted. Sylph’s magic and your return should make him cautious, so we have time to work.”

“Enough to beat him?”

Henry snorted. “More like enough where we can force him back again and buy even more time to train. This isn’t going to be a sudden, decisive victory unless the Void manage to restart the Cycle. The Corruption is a slow, creeping plague that will slowly consume things until there is nothing left and the Planes collapse. Our goal is to stall that until we can manage to catch Second truly off guard and finish him off.”

“That seems easier said than done.”

“It’s your best bet to save the Mortal Plane in its current state.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Damien said, shaking his head. “Nothing has changed then. i just need to train more.”

“A lot more,” Henry corrected. “Now, go back to sleep. If you ever see that basin or lantern again, don’t approach them. Just wait until I find you. Messing with the Void when you aren’t ready for it is a terrible idea.”

Damien nodded and Henry snapped his fingers. A wave of gentle purple light washed over him, and sleep took over once again.