Bryce

I sat with my eyes closed and legs crossed on a comfortable pillow deep inside a cave on Halcyon’s moon. My mantle had done wonders for my ability to stay awake, but it only went so far. I was approaching three days without sleep and finally starting to feel tired. Of course, it didn’t help that we were now in the ‘hurry up and wait’ portion of the plan.

Setting up the spells yesterday in Suhali’s library went off without a hitch, and I spent the rest of the night preparing the cavern for the worst. There were more than two dozen separate concealment spells to ward against different types of divination, several spells to make teleporting in more difficult, and one of the strongest area shields I could manage. And those were just the defenses that I had time to put in place.

If Mother somehow managed to get past all of those, then she’d have four super-powered devils, an angry djinn, and a kitsune assassin with a grudge to deal with.

If fighting wasn’t an option, I also included a teleportation circle directed to return to the ship back in the Aether. Then, attached to that circle, were dozens of explosive runes designed to collapse the cavern if they activated. Not that I was expecting a cave-in to kill Mother, but I was hoping it would at least help cover our tracks if it came to a retreat.

“Bryce, you look exhausted.” I opened my eyes to see Sora standing over me.

“That’s because she is,” Thea replied from where she was lying with her head in my lap. “She hasn’t slept since before we rescued Ithnaa.”

“If you’re not at one-hundred percent, then we should just call this off,” Sora argued, and I dismissed them.

“There’s no need. My mantle makes it so I need less sleep to get by. I’m fine. I promise.”

“Thea?”

“She’s not lying, but that doesn’t mean she’s right.” Thea glared up at me and I stuck my tongue out at her. She returned the gesture before looking back up at Sora. “She’s probably okay, but I'm going to borrow some sedatives once this is all over.”

“You won’t need to drug me at that point. I’m going to sleep for a week straight.”

“Oh, I know. The sedatives are for me. Princess, I love you, but you snore. Like a lot. Super loudly.” I flicked her in the forehead and she let out an exaggerated gasp. “Betrayal! Softie, you saw that, right?”

“Yeah, I saw it and I’ll even testify on your behalf, but Bryce, I’m serious. If you’re not up for this, then we should call it off.”

I was about to respond when a message came in over my implants.

I bought you two hours of her alone. Any longer than that and she’s going to start asking questions that I can’t answer. So, work fast.

“I just got the signal from Suhali. If we want to call this off, then now is the last chance.” I looked up at Sora, and they shifted uncomfortably. “I’m telling you that I feel fine, and this is the best shot we’re going to have at Mother, but if you don’t think we’re ready, then just say the word and we’ll leave right now. No questions asked.”

“If you say you’re fine, then let’s do this, but I reserve the exclusive rights to say ‘I told you so’ if we all die.”

“Question!” Thea lifted her hand in the air and Sora nodded to her. “What if only some of us die? Can I be the one to tell her ‘I told you so’ then?”

They paused to think for a moment before nodding. “How about this? If you or one of your siblings die, then you can tell her, but if it’s me or Ithnaa, then I get to do it.”

I tuned them both out to focus on casting a scrying spell and a few moments later, the image of the library came into focus. A woman who was apparently Mother was sitting in a high-backed chair reading through an ancient-looking paper book. She looked younger than Ithnaa or Suhali, maybe near Sora’s age, but otherwise, the resemblance was uncanny.

She had no hair, and her skin was a few shades lighter than my own. Her clothes were less revealing than the other djinn we met, but felt much more expensive to my untrained eye.

“I see her. She’s alone. I’m about to send a message, so be prepared for anything,” I muttered, but my senses were caught in the scrying spell so I couldn’t hear if the people around me responded.

Hello, Mother. You don’t know me, but I intercepted a package you were set to receive later today. I know how much you were looking forward to punishing her, but I’d like to make a deal. Leave Ithnaa alone and don’t pursue her, then I’ll tell you where Sora is hiding.

Mother gently closed the book and sat it on her lap. I immediately activated the spell in the room. She didn’t seem to react to it, which was a good sign, but I had no way of knowing if it actually took hold.

You’re right. I don’t know who you are, but it’s clear that you don’t know who I am either. That’s okay though, you’ll learn soon enough. You see, I don’t make deals, and I don’t do compromises. You’re going to tell me where Sora is, then I’m going to retrieve my wayward daughter. You two are going to kill each other slowly while I watch. Then I’ll bring you back and you’ll do it again.

The message ended, but Mother didn’t stop talking. Instead, she looked up towards the ceiling right at me as she continued. “So, tell me godling. Where is Sora?”

They’re on Seon’thiss. The dragon clans are hiding them in exchange for information about the Syndicate, but they’re moving them soon. You won’t be hearing from us again.

I ended the scrying spell and moved Thea off my lap so that I could stand up. “We need to leave. Now.”

“It might be a bit too late for that,” Aurora said as she pushed herself off the cave wall she had been leaning against. I spun around to see Mother standing near the teleportation circle.

“I’m not surprised that you were lying to me, but I am disappointed. I'll need to think of a new punishment for you.”

“Mother.”

“Sora.” All the anger drained from her face as she took them in. “My dear, I’m here to take you home.”

“I’m not leaving with you.” They set her with a glare as they dropped into a fighting stance. “In fact, you’re not leaving at all.”

“But I am leaving, and you’ll come with me willingly just as soon as you have no more reason to stay.” She outstretched an arm towards me, but Thea grabbed it and pulled down before a bolt of dark light fired into the floor. “Oh, little devil, that was a mistake.”

“The only mistake here is you, lady.” Thea dropped down to try to sweep her legs, but they just passed right through. “Uh, whoops. My bad?” Mother then kicked her across the room through the stone wall, and about a million things seemed to happen all at once. Suriel rushed towards the hole where Thea disappeared into, while Aurora and Leila charged forward. Ithnaa disappeared, and I started casting the same restraint spell that I had used against Rajak back on Drassun. Meanwhile, Sora just vanished.

Aurora reached Mother first, but she caught her first punch and broke her wrist before slamming her forehead into Aurora’s nose. Leila went for Mother’s waist, but passed right through her with a trail of dark mist following.

Ithnaa appeared behind Aurora and shoved her towards Suriel. “Thea is fine. Heal your sister! Sora, stay out of sight. She won’t be able to use her big spells if you might get caught in the crossfire.” She commanded before summoning a pair of scimitars to attack Mother. Her swords didn’t seem to fare much better than any of the other attacks, and once she realized that, she shouted towards me. “Bryce, you need to dispel whatever magic she’s using, otherwise we won’t be able to touch her.”

I nodded and immediately switched the spell I was casting. “Give me twenty seconds. Don’t engage until I finish.”

“You seriously think I would allow that?” Mother started walking towards me, but I continued to cast even as Ithnaa appeared behind me and we teleported to the other side of the room.

“A little help would be nice here, Thea,” she shouted, and dozens of illusionary versions of the two of us appeared around the room, all perfectly mimicking what we were doing. Ithnaa teleported me one last time, and when she did, all the clones moved to random locations. It got to the point where even I wasn’t sure where I was.

“This won’t stop me,” Mother announced before firing another beam of dark light through four of the illusions. Of course, they didn’t react, which just seemed to make her even more angry. So, she started firing hundreds of beams at once. One hit my shoulder and passed right through my shield, but none of the blood was visible. Thea apparently put an illusion overtop of me beforehand and I silently thanked her foresight.

I finished the spell after only being hit three more times and managed to stretch out a bloody hand towards Mother. All at once, every single spell she had active or magical item she was wearing just stopped working. “Go now! It won’t last!”

The illusions of myself dropped, and seven new ones of Thea appeared around Mother. Several restrained her while the rest started beating on her. Aurora and Leila joined in while Ithnaa conjured four additional arms wreathed in purple lightning, all wielding familiar scimitars. Meanwhile, I started casting the same spell again, preparing for when her magic returned.

“The creations of a dead god mean nothing to me,” Mother spat through clenched teeth. “Return to the pit where you belong.” A wave of dark power emanated from her and I felt all four contracts end as Thea and her siblings vanished. Mother started laughing, and I glanced over at Ithnaa, who had stopped in her tracks. “Now, godling, I believe I made you a promise.” She grinned at me as she continued in a calm and quiet voice that shook the cave we were standing in. “Daughter, I want you to kill her. Do it slowly.”

Ithnaa dismissed her additional arms before turning towards me with scared, apologetic eyes. I continued casting, even as she failed to fight the command and approached me.

“I’m sorry, Bryce,” she whispered before slowly stabbing one of her swords into my thigh. I clenched my teeth and fought to maintain concentration on the spell. Ithnaa lifted her sword to stab into my other thigh, but before she could, Sora appeared behind Mother with their dagger lodged in the base of her skull.

But it was both too early, and too late. I hadn’t finished casting my spell, and the effect preventing Mother from being harmed had already returned. She simply grabbed their wrist to remove the dagger, and smiled at them with false sympathy. “Sora, that was very unbecoming of you. You realize that now I’ll have to punish you as well.”

“Fuck you,” they spat, and I finished casting. I targeted Ithnaa with the spell, and the controlling effect ended.

“Get Sora out of here!” I commanded, and she nodded before tossing me one of her platinum tokens.

“Swallow it.” I did, and she appeared next to Sora before the two of them disappeared together.

“No!” Mother shouted, and the raw power in her voice was enough to cause cracks to appear along the walls of the cavern. “Why can’t I feel where they went? You! Tell me now!” She stomped up to me just in range for me to repeat Sora's last response. “Wrong answer!”

She punched forward, and I felt the impact on my chest, but none of the expected pain. Which left me confused until she withdrew her blood-soaked hand, holding my still-beating heart. It erupted into black flames and my vision faded as I collapsed into darkness.