Harlan awoke in a room very familiar to him.

But this wasn’t the first time that he had woken up without actually waking up.

Once he realized he was stuck in a looping dream he would open a gate somewhere he didn’t know and start asking people random questions.

A real person would either tell him to fuck off or they’d answer his strange question about their life, but a fake person would be unable to tell him details about their life at all but would never refuse to speak with him.

He didn’t get that far this time since he was being blocked from opening a gate by the defenses of the palace and his attempt set off an alarm.

Safira entered the medical room flanked by two other guards, speaking from behind a large shield of crystal held by the man on her left.

“Are you sane?”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been sane. But my mind is clear. What happened?”

“I’m not sure where to start. Nemain led an attack on the camp, do you know why?”

“There was… I remember she was singing, but it wasn’t for me. Saltlick was an important camp, so destroying it would fan the flames of war, giving the rebels a new striking point.

Ultimately her goal is to cause strife so people are forced to grow.”

“Sepul gave the same answer.”

“He was there, right? Everything is still in pieces, but he was fighting. The last thing I remember was… Marigold, she said something?”

Safira shivered and averted her gaze.

“The mountains are gone.”

“I must’ve misheard you. The-”

“The mountains are gone. She struck Nemain with some attack. Most of the soldiers in the camp evaporated from the sheer power in the air. But-”

“Sam, where is she?”

“I’m sorry.”

He trembled as he forced the next word out of his mouth.

“Liat?”

“She’s recovering in another room. If not for your enhancements and-”

“Does she know yet?”

“She has only been awake for a few days, and never for long.”

He turned his lower half to get down from the bed, finding that the floor felt like pins and needles.

“You need more rest.”

“No, I need to see her.”

Safira ordered one of the others to grab him, and then he realized what was wrong.

“I can’t feel you.”

She stepped out from behind the shield and revealed the cane she was using.

“That spell Marigold used cut through more than just what we can see. Can you use magic?”

He tried to light a simple fire in his hands, but got nothing but sparks.

His breath quickened and fear flooded his mind.

“I couldn’t open a gate before, not because of the arrays. What do you know? How do I-”

“Calm yourself. There was a messenger, a woman, who told us that we will recover, but how long she does not know. For you, perhaps a week, two at most, for me, a month or more.”

“But you’re stronger than me, aren’t you?”

Safira shook her head.

“That sigil you have was like a shield, and you have a connection to the gods due to your championship.”

“How long have I been sleeping?”

“Two weeks, though you were the first to wake, you would ramble and go back to sleep.

We had to travel back for over a day before we could even get out of the area of effect. We are poison to mana right now and gates remained closed.”

“If you want to see Liat, Charlin will take you.”

He had turned off his empathy before, or at least turned it down heavily so as to not be distracted, but it was gone now.

It was deafening.

It wasn’t like his senses weren’t beyond others already, he could hear servants coming even though they had soft shoes on soft carpet, he could smell them despite how clean they might seem.

But if someone was invisible, could he know?

He was sure that there should be one of the Unseen in one of the corners, but he couldn’t know for sure.

He felt vulnerable, blinded, crippled.

Liat was pallid, lying under a thick blanket, a maid was feeding her soup since she was only barely strong enough to sit herself up.

“Charlin, ma’am, please give us some privacy.”

The royal guard pushed his wheelchair near the bed before he left.

“Liat, it’s about-”

“I’m done.”

“With what?”

“Magic, adventure, fighting, it’s all pointless.”

“I think you should know that Sam-”

“I was hugging her so tight, trying to protect her, but she just turned into mana in my hands, I felt her turn into nothing. I don’t think she knew what was happening.

Why did I ever even try? What was the point? I brought her to that place because I was bored, she didn’t even want to go at first.”

“It’s my fault. You-”

“I don’t want to do this, for us to try and shift the blame back and forth.”

She turned away from him.

“You know, you can recover, you’ll get your magic back.”

“I saw the world unfold before my eyes as she severed reality just to attack Nemain. You are directly tied to a god, but they didn’t even give any warning beforehand, they didn’t even give us that chance to run.

We’re just ants-”

“That’s not true, we’re both young, we can-”

“NO-”

The strain of her shout made pain shoot through her throat.

Harlan’s first thought was to heal her, but when he tried to rush from his wheelchair he fell, grabbing the blankets as he did.

When he managed to crawl back into his seat, he saw her barely covered form.

Liat was bone thin, her body barely survived The Cleave, and at great cost.

“Look at us, I can’t get out of bed, you can barely even stand, and we weren’t even the target, she wasn’t even in the camp itself. If I lived to 200, would I have even a fraction of her power? What could I do if another being like her decided to show up? I could spend my entire life training and it would amount to nothing in the face of things like her.”

Liat began to cry, her puffy eyes said it wouldn’t be the first time recently.

“I just want to go home, I want to see Yara, my parents, I just don’t want to even bother with this, it’s all bullshit, nothing I could ever be as a mage will matter.”

“That’s not true, you-”

“I’m not an inventor, I just use what other people make, but that doesn’t matter, none of it does, you might be able to reach their level, but I can’t.”

He didn’t have any response to her.

“Yara isn’t in the desert, she’s with Fomoria. I got a call from Adina the other day saying that he and Yara came to talk about pregnancy. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you when we got out of Saltlick.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Can you… can you get her here?”

He almost opened his mouth without thinking.

He didn’t want to talk with Fomoria, to ask him for a favor, he was already angry that he even spoke to Adina. But that would’ve been his pride talking.

“As soon as I get home, I can contact him.”

“Thanks. I think I’ll just get more rest…”

He felt her heart slow down, but she was in no danger.

When he got outside Charlin was waiting along with Rosewell.

“She needs to be covered back up, she’s very tired.”

“Your queen is-”

“Charlin, not now. Get the maid back, and have a doctor check on Liat again.”

Rosewell pushed his wheelchair, not to the throne room, or even the meeting room deeper in the castle, but to her room.

“We need to get the story straight. The only people who know what happened during The Cleave are the royal guards and Liat, there were no other survivors.”

“Nobody?”

“No. Those that survived only did so because of the enhanced bodies and magical power. Liat was nearly lost more than once, anyone less than her died almost instantly. I don’t want to sound cold, but this is an opportunity. I want you to make up a theoretical weapon that would explain how you could’ve been behind what happened. It doesn’t matter if you can actually make something or not, the lie just has to feel real enough that archmagi on the rebel side can see how it might be possible.”

He sighed, gritting his teeth as his eyes slit.

“I understand.”

“I’m sorry to ask this of you, Liat is in a poor state mentally and physically, her love died, you can hardly stand, but if we can make the other side think we can do something like that, even if it cost us the thousands of lives at the camp, we could turn the tides completely, the war might be over.”

“I need to see the damage first.”

“We can take you within 40 miles then you’ll need to use a carriage, any closer and the gates break down.”

“I want to go home first. I need to see Adina, I need to call Fomoria.”

“Of course. We haven’t told her about what happened yet, there has been a total information blackout on The Cleave.”

“That’s what you’ve been calling it?”

“The last thing most people remember is a voice calling out that single word.

Her voice was distorted over a distance, giving us some deniability that it was her instead of something you did.”

“Alright. Is that all?”

“Yes, for now.”

It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch, bugs in his skin.

The atmosphere within the NLZ was thick with mana, but he felt his body reject it.

The mana came near, it tried to enter him, but little made it past the order telling it that he was severed, broken.

Charlin, a name Harlan had only learned today, but perhaps he heard in the past, whoever this man was, he was clearly well trusted if he was allowed to guard him.

Outside of his castle, Harlan’s father was the first to see him.

The garden wasn’t much when he left, now some seemed ready to harvest.

His father really did have farming in his blood and soul.

“What happened?”

“I can’t talk about it yet. Is Adina inside? Was she worried?”

“When you say something like that, I start to worry. Should I?”

“It’s fine, no… it’s over.”

“Should I call your mother here?”

“No. I won’t be long. Charlin, I’ll tell you where to turn to reach Adina. She’s probably in the nursery.”

“You should see Ava, we finally had a talk about you and her.”

“That wasn’t necessary.”

“Fomoria was the one that started it, so there wasn’t much choice in it.”

“That bastard should mind his own business.”

“Now you sound like Ava.”

“It isn’t the same. When I destroyed Haldran I saw the consequences and I couldn’t accept them, but he’s out there killing who knows how many people to-”

“I raised you same as him, he’s not a stranger. Adina came to your mother and I about why you went to that military camp. You don’t hate him for killing people, you hate him because you see him as a threat, you’re angry that he is stronger than you.”

“That’s-”

“Don’t lie, you and I both know it’s true. If you were put in his shoes, you’d do the same damn thing.

You went there once, out beyond the veil, and what did you see? Is he a tyrant? Do bodies line the streets?

Or is he doing exactly what you and him both want to do, make the world better even if some people need to die for it. If Yggdra died and left the kingdom to one of Rosewell’s shitheel siblings, would you leave it be? Or would you be a rebel leader?”

“Dad.”

Harlan motioned to Charlin.

“Rosewell knows what you are about and I’m not worried that she’d be upset enough to punish me for what I’m saying. Go see your wife, then go to whatever the next mess is, but before that, see your sister, because I’m sure she wants to apologize.”

“Fine.”

Adina was exactly where he thought she would be.

Viviane began to fuss when she saw him in the wheelchair.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll be back to my best health in weeks.”

“What about Liat? Sam?”

“Sam didn’t make it, Liat… she’s not handling it well. I just wanted to say that I’m alright, since I don’t know if you tried to call me or not, but I can’t stay long. I need to talk with Ava, and I need to call Fomoria.”

“What happened then? Hirum came to ask me where you were, but he wouldn’t say why he seemed so frazzled.”

“I’m sure plenty of people felt what happened. Can I hold her, just for a minute?”

“You don’t need to ask, she’s your daughter too.”

“Charlin, can I get some privacy?”

“Of course, Sir Fomoria.”

With just the three of them there, he sighed.

“You mentioned that Fomoria upset you, what was it?”

“It’s nothing, you don’t-”

“Please. I just want to know before we meet again, otherwise my mind is going to assume the worst and I’ll ruin everything.”

“You know, it sounds like a threat when you say it like that.”

“You know exactly what I mean though. I won’t mean to do it, but I’ll hear something that upsets me and then I’ll be in a bad mood and then-”

“I know.”

This was now her turn to sigh.

“He said that he wished he had given Yara a chance earlier.”

“Ok, and?”

“You and him are both just as stupid as the other. I’ve never been jealous of anyone else, because I know that you don’t have eyes for anyone but me, I’m absolutely confident in that. But he said it and it made me angry, I wanted to hurt him, and I wanted to hurt Yara. It’s stupid, I know it is, I’m acting like a child. But I hate it, I hate feeling like there could ever been somebody else for you.”

“You know that there isn’t. He settled for her, but you were always his first choice, always my only real choice. When you are old and wrinkled, I’ll still love you just as much as I do now, probably more actually.”

She blushed.

“I’ve been really missing you. You know. As soon as you’re better, why don’t we let your parents watch her for a few days?”

“Alright. But now, I must go.”

He tickled Viviane’s nose.

“Mama.”

It was hard for him to contain his emotions.

“Her first words?”

“She started saying things a week ago.”

His demeanor turned dark in an instant.

“I missed it, I’m stupid, an idiot, I don’t-”

“Stop that. You were here when she started crawling, and when she took her first steps. You are lucky that you’ve only missed that. Now hand her back, you’re upsetting her with your bad mood.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me.”

“Sorry, Vivi.”

“Papa.”

Both of them were overjoyed, though not for exactly the same reason.

“I’ve been trying to get her to say papa for days. She refused.”

The couple played with her for a time, but eventually Charlin knocked on the door; they didn’t have forever, though they weren’t on a tight schedule.

He was shocked that he couldn’t find Ava in the training room, and he felt foolish that she had been in her room, which they had gone past on the way to the training room.

“What happened to you? Are you alright? I’m sorry that I-”

“I’m fine, I just need to recover.”

“Oh… I’ve got a problem, but I’m sure it can wait.”

“Do we need some time alone so you can explain?”

“No… actually, yes.”

“Charlin.”

“Of course, Sir Fomoria.”

When it was just the two of them, she revealed her hands; the metal was creeping further up her arms, reaching to her elbows.

“Gods… you’re… what happened? Was it Fae?”

“No, it’s Lugh, he and I, well, we’re able to fuse.”

“That’s… incredible. Can he talk?”

“To me, sure, but not to anyone else. We can’t turn it off, we used to, but not now.”

“I… can’t use magic, not for a little while.”

To accent his point, he once more tried to make a fireball, and only made sparks.

“But… I can…”

“For fucks sake, just say it, it’s not that hard.”

“I’ll call Fomoria.”

“He…”

“Just say it, it’s not that hard.”

“Prick. He yelled at me last time, and I don’t know if he’s still mad or not.”

“Even if he was, you’re in trouble, so he’ll do everything in his power to help.”

Fomoria had no issue coming over, and he didn’t hold any ill will.

What he wanted more than anything from Ava was just to be forgiven.

Harlan couldn’t stay around, he had to visit The Scar; he didn’t tell him about Liat yet.

In the future, this would be a massive freshwater lake, towns would be built around the edges.

Now, it was as the name suggested, it was a scar on the land.

40 miles long, and though it started at the thickness of a blade, it rapidly expanded in an inverted triangle shape 80 miles across. The north end was deepest, going down to half a mile, but the slope was gradual from where Marigold had swung her blade.

What amazed Harlan wasn’t the sheer size of the attack, but how dead everything felt.

He saw wyverns migrating, but all of them would turn to avoid getting anywhere near The Scar.

The air itself felt sick, and these wyverns were too large to exist by natural law, so an anti-magic area was a serious health risk to them.

The more he looked around, the more clear what his theoretical weapon would alledge to be.

It was a clean cut, where once there was, now there wasn’t, what was something became less than nothing, for even the air at least held mana.

----------------------------------------

Nemain thrashed against her cage.

She was not held with the rest, Xol was worried that she would somehow manage to break out.

No, he brought her to his home, putting her in a trap not entirely unlike Koschai, but her restraints were made entirely of Godtouched steel.

Aarde’s will ran through each bond of the metal, and they hated the Fae.

“It has been a long time since we last got a face to face meeting. You always ignore my invites.”

“My, coming to see a vulnerable woman without your wife present?”

“Let’s move past the crude remarks and mockery, shall we?”

“What do you want from me?”

“You have your paladins, David and Parnell. I’m sure that you gave them a fraction of the power that you should’ve. I want some of your ichor so I can give them the strength they deserve.”

She furrowed her brows.

“That is against this world, why?”

“Because, something is coming, and this world will not last unless its champions are strong enough to do what needs to be done and they have the power to do it.”

“Unbind one of my hands, and I shall conjure a vial.”

“Of course.”

Naturally, she tried to unravel his physical form, but found her magic ineffective; his form glowed with an unnatural purple hue, not quite like the Fairies, something so dark it was nearly black.

“My my my, now what have you done, Man of Bone?”

“Isn’t it more fun if you don’t know?”

She laughed and gave him the vial.