Chapter 20. The Salt in the Wound

“Get to them!” Jade commanded, pointing her wand across the field of Valor. Though the duelists saw this as a place to practice, it was the exact field on which the Chinese fought the first battle against the Stewards Guild millennia ago. It was the battle the stewards lost, the battle that sent them reeling, allowing the Chinese to have their own empire. Though in more recent years the magicians of china decided to adopt the government of their human counterparts, the emperor remains the figurehead of the nation. The nation Jade swore to serve.

She watched as the Regalia entered their wraith forms and moved swiftly across the terrain to the two fallen duelists. The Regalia she had here with her were not capable of actual flight in their wraith forms. Jade, on the other hand, was more than capable of it. She let the phantasmic power surround her, engulf her, and run through her. Her skin changed from her usual pale complexion to a translucent black with hues of dark purple running throughout. She lifted from the soft autumn leaves, and tore through the air, leaves cycloning in her wake. The adrenaline pumped through her, power livening her mind and body alike. These men came as a peace offering from the Stewards Guild, without them war could be had. The Emperor's life would be forfeit.

“For the Emperor!” she screamed as she soared, emotions getting the best of her. She would report for reconditioning at day's end for that. She streaked past her Regalia and came to a stop directly above the two men. Finnigan had tear lines running down his cheeks. He was on his back, Kench unconscious on his chest.

Finnigan’s eyes snapped open, looking at her in her wraith form. No westerner knew of The Regalia’s ability to become phantoms, she would have to alter his memory for that.

“Impellio!” Finnigan roared, face twisting in rage. As quickly as he said it, an immense pressure crashed into Jade's gut, sending her backward in a cascade of sparks and flame. The heat wasn’t a bother to her, nor the sparks, but she had never been hit by a spell of such force. She felt her power retract from her limbs and gather at her core to fight the blast from Finnigan’s wand. The battle between his magic and hers felt like an explosion of searing pain through her abdomen. She landed hard on the Field of Valor and struggled to catch her breath. How could she let her guard down? How could she have been so reckless?

“Protect the mistress!” screamed another regalia, voice high pitched and distant. “Detain the foreigners! For the Empire!” The Regalia streaked past Jade as she struggled to regain her strength. She tried to call out, to tell them to halt, but they were too far gone, and her wind had not yet recovered. The Regalia circled around Finnigan, who was now on his feet, blood leaking from his poorly healed scars. They let out their unnatural war cries, the scream of the banshees. Finnigan was going to be ripped to pieces, and Jade was barely able to hold her Wraith form or even breathe for that matter.

With the speed of darkness fleeing from the light, they collapsed. Finnigan was fast, but not fast enough to defend. At least that’s what Jade thought. The wraith form Regalia were sent reeling in an explosion of light.

“Chorus angelorum!” Finnigan bellowed. From his wand shot balls of energy which turned into beings of vibrant light. All the beings were featureless save only their enormous wings. Jade felt faint, she had never seen someone perform that spell. She had read about it, but never seen it. It was said to drain the magician who cast it to the point of exhaustion, and possibly death. The Regalia moved in, ready for the kill, but were intercepted by the beings of light at every turn. As Jade felt her strength restore, she embraced her wraith from. She lifted slowly from the ground, still feeling faint. A blast of light hit her in the chest. She lurched back again, her dark power failing her completely. She would have to rely wholly on her wand then. Well, that and her wit.

Grabbing for her wand Jade saw her skin had returned to its usual white, and she shimmered. She appeared close and on the other side of Finnigan. She pointed her wand at his back, but he spun, a snarl on his face and shot her spell down before it left her wand. She shimmered out of the line of his return volley and appeared high in a tree above.

“Chaxun,” she said. Her eyes opened, not her normal eyes. What she saw was spectacular. It looked like angels battling demons, as though the war between heaven and hell reached the Field of Valor. But with the vision granted by the spell, she saw that there were several demons on the battlefield; however there was only one angel. The beings of light were tied intrinsically to Finnigan. Each bound to him by a giant golden cable. In fact, there were so many cables leaving the man Jade could barely see him.

The angelic figures at the end of each cable were merely manifestations of Finnigan's own soul. They fought with speed and ferocity. Jade realized, mouth dropping open, that she didn’t have to save Finnigan from the Regalia, but she had to save the Regalia from Finnigan.

She shimmered close and cried, “Facit!” sending a magical severing charm at one of Finnigan's golden cables. While it didn’t sever the cord, it weakened it. Jade shimmered again, barely avoiding another one of Finnigan’s spells. She Blasted another spell at another thread, but Finnigan blocked it and sent a series of spells at her. They all went wide, so she remained in position. She fired back, each of her spells being deflected by Finnigan with expert precision.

Suddenly the ground beneath her came alive, vines growing out at an alarming rate, grabbing her feet and pulling them out from under her. Of course, he didn’t miss! He wasn’t aiming for her! She cursed herself and shimmered from the grasp of the vines, at least she tried. Finnigan had bewitched them to hold her in place even through a shimmer. She reached deep within herself and pulled the last of her wraith power, transforming her legs into their dark form. The energy burnt through the vines freeing her.

She shimmered to the other side of Finnigan and, gathering her will through her own power stone, bellowed, “Impellio!” The spell shot at Finnigan with enough force to punch a hole in a mountain. One of his guardian angels shot down and absorbed the blow, exploding deafeningly into a cascade of blinding light. It was the same guardian whose cable she had partially severed. The Regalia it had been fighting off made a dash for Finnigan, moving at inhuman speeds which were matched deftly by Finnigan.

Finnigan blasted the Regalia in the face with a golden spell which shattered the woman's dark energy completely. The Regalia shot backward as though from a cannon directly at the trunk of a tree. Jade made a cushion of air between the woman and the tree and broke the impact. She turned, but something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. The woman was writhing quietly on the ground. Jade shimmered to her side and watched through her bewitched eyes as the golden spells magic cramped every muscle in the regalia’s body, heart included.

“Virtutem haurire,” Jade incanted. The golden power siphoned from the woman, letting her lay still, taking short irregular breaths. Jade turned and looked at Finnigan, and the golden chords were small, thin, and transparent. They held more of a gentle glow than a blinding brightness. The man was exhausted when he cast the spell, he had to be near collapse now. As if reading her very thoughts, one of the guardian angels winked out of existence, allowing the wraith it had been battling to blast past Finnigan's defenses. Finnigan pointed his wand at Kench, and the unconscious fat man moved through the air behind Finnigan, out of the wraith's reach.

Jade Shimmered and severed another one of Finnigan’s cords with a quick severing charm, allowing two more wraiths to come barreling in. Finnigan blasted each of them with a golden spell, sending the Regalia back. They fell to the ground, losing their wraith form.

“Fall Back!” Jade screamed, voice cracking slightly. The Regalia listened, moving beyond the reach of the dwindling guardians. Jade shimmered directly in front of Finnigan, nose almost touching his. She brought her wand crashing down, severing the last of the links with his Guardians. She tried to move away, but he was too fast, twisting her wand hand painfully. Her wand dropped and he held his to her throat, swaying weekly as he did.

“I won’t let you,” he said thickly. “You won’t hurt Kench!” The tip of his wand glowed brightly as it burned into Jade's neck. Finnigan’s eyes seemed to lose focus, and Jade used her free hand to strike him in the throat, then flipped backward, kicking him in the face as she did. She landed hard on the ground, rolling her ankle and falling to her side. Finnigan fell heavily onto his back. Jade slowly rose, testing her ankle, it gave way entirely under her weight. A Regalia appeared at her side, catching her. With the woman as her crutch, she hobbled forward, pain shooting up her leg with each motion.

“Mistress,” the regalia said. “Your bone is protruding from your leg.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Jade said. “We have to make sure he is beaten. We have to make sure he lives. With his death, war is inevitable. Tell me, Regalia, do you believe the empire able to stand up to an army of men like this?”

“The Ageless Empire cannot fall,” the regalia answered without delay.

“To him, I believe it could,” Jade said. “Further, I fought his brother in Tokyo. I must say, the display I saw all those years ago in that city, makes me think these men are unbeatable. We don’t want his brothers' wrath or the wrath of The Stewards in their formations,” Jade said, panting heavily.

“Yes Mistress.” the regalia said.

“Now, help me over there,” Jade ordered. Kai acquiesced and supported Jade as they hobbled the last two steps over to Finnigan. Jade let herself to a knee and inspected him. Blood trickled out of one of his ears and both nostrils.

“Egrutido,” Kai said behind Jade. Kai was Jade's most experienced battle healer, and her touch was warm and familiar. “Mistress, this will not feel good.”

“Very well,” Jade said. Jade continued to inspect Finnigan as Kai’s magical touch realigned tissues surrounding her break. Pain suppression was one of the first things learned by The Regalia. The individual created a mental wall, through which pain simply could not pass. Kai’s manipulation of the muscle surrounding the wound was nothing to... “Aaaah!” Jade screamed as the splintered boned snapped back in place. The pain shattered her mental barrier and flooded through Jade's mind.

“It is done,” Kai said.

Jade took a few moments to catch her breath. Finally, the pain reduced itself to a throb, then she said, “Kai, use your western magic on him.” Kai cast her spell on Finnigan and Jade saw a glow emitting from Finnigan's pocket. She reached in and felt a smooth, round stone which she pulled out and inspected.

“Is that a power stone?” Kai asked. Jade could hear the alarm in her voice.

“He was given one by the emperor,” Jade said. Still, she grabbed his wand and inspected it. That power stone was still fastened to the bottom of Finnigan’s wand. Jade waved her wand and a glass vial formed around the stone in her hand, containing its power.

After a brief pause, Kai said, “He has mental wounds, a psychic attack caused this. His wounds were healed sloppily by that same power. It seems he did it, but it wasn’t his power he used. It is foreign. I traced it back to the fat one. It seems the duelists' new friend is something more than meets the eye. At least, he seems to have effectively killed this one.”

“What can you do to make him live?” Jade asked, recognizing the finality of the healers' tone.

“He is soul melded to the fat one," she said, thinking out loud. "I can get them to Bibs. If she saves one, she saves both I think. For this much damage, they may need a third person involved,” Kai said.

“Let’s go,” Jade said. She gathered up Finnigan and Kench in a cocoon of air and took them through a small portal she conjured to the palace. “Get the Ornament,” Jade commanded Kai. The battle healer vanished behind nothing and appeared moments later with Fei. The Ornament was wearing a tight black dress and held her gemmed wand lightly in one hand.

“What has become of my lost puppy?” Fei said, looking at Finnigan with her cold, emotionless gaze.

“He was injured by psychic energies while misusing the western healing spell, Ornament,” Jade said, bowing to Fei.

“Will he live?” Fei asked. She began to pick at a crack in her fingernail.

“Not without a soul meld to a healthy soul,” Jade stated.

“A shame. He was useful. If he doesn’t die, alert me,” Fei said. With that, she promptly turned and vanished behind thin air. Jade stood, flabbergasted. How could the woman walk out on the man to whom she routinely made love? No, it wasn't making love. It was sex. Rape, Finnigan just didn't know it. Jade followed the woman through the wrinkle Fei had created in the fabric of reality and found herself in the woman's quarters.

“Ornament,” Jade said. She had to be certain to employ all the protocol when approaching Fei. She knelt and said, “I request a private audience.”

“Granted,” Fei said.

“Finnigan had this in his possession,” Jade said, holding up the power stone.

Fei glanced over, then did a double take. She held out her hand, and the vial soared through the air into her grip. “Who gave it to him?” Her voice had an edge colder than ice.

“No one,” Jade replied. “He created it himself. I don’t know when. We need to preserve his life, at all costs.”

“No,” Fei said. “This is a death sentence. He needs to die for what he’s done. We cannot let this magic leave the East. If the stewards get hold of it…” The woman trailed off then visibly shuttered. “This means the old man gave him the crystal of the ancients and not just a power stone.”

“With respect Ornament, we do not know if he has told anyone else of this. We need to know what else happened. While he has the crystal, he is second in command, the rightful leader of the Empire while the Emperor is gone. If he was commissioned by the Emperor…”

“Who among us knows this?” Fei asked, interrupting Jade.

“None of those with me,” Jade said simply. She felt her face flush, she couldn’t lose composure. If Fei tried to undermine the Emperor's orders, Jade would have to react. Being reactionary wasn’t good enough. She would have to be proactive.

“Speak of it to no one. He needs a soul meld? Have the fat one do it,” Fei said. “Then, the moment he wakes, summon me.”

“He is already soul bound to the fat one,” Jade said.

“Oh, well. Take the fat one to Bibs, have her tend to him, then have Valera soul melded to him. That may well grant the strength needed through the fat one. If that doesn’t work, bind yourself to Finnigan,” Fei said. “Now go, I need to prepare.”

So do I Jade thought to herself. She stepped through a wrinkle in the fabric of reality and vanished from the room.

Valera sat in the center of the room on the cold brick floor. The bricks were laid in thick concentric rings, with her in the smallest circle which barely held the woman. She was nude and shivering. She had to have been here for the better part of a month, though it felt longer. Time had a habit of neglecting to flow properly around Bibs. It helped Valera get more done than otherwise would have been possible, but it also pushed her further into exhaustion than she thought was survivable. She felt the cold from the floor burn into her buttocks and fought back a wince, but failed.

“Well done!” Bibs said. “That was a week since your last flinch. Your mental walls are strong, you truly are the blood of Fei. That is enough for now. You only had to last a day to be prepared for the ritual.”

“Thank you,” Valera stammered. She wasn’t sure why she thanked Bibs. The woman had paddled her bottom raw with her damn magical spoon before making her sit there, and every time Valera displeased the woman a slap to the face would follow.

“Because you aren’t using your wand to fortify your body doesn’t mean it isn’t magic. Draw your will in,” Bibs said, taking a deep breath. “And press it firmly against the pain. In time you will do it without thinking about it, and should the pain get bad enough your wall will either shatter, or you will do nothing but focus on stopping the pain. Pain will slip through, but if it all hits you at once, you will die.”

“Yes, Bibs,” Valera said.

“Alright!” Bibs barked, her double chin shaking. “We need another to perform the ritual, I would recommend Jade. The woman who performs it will be connected to you. You will apprentice yourself to them. Jade can be rough around the edges, but you’ll never find a better master.”

“I was already an apprentice,” Valera said.

“To what?” Bibs scoffed, running out of breath. “An aspiring alchemist? Alchemy is useful, a damn hard skill to acquire, but we need a different kind of magic here.”

“Would she accept me as an apprentice?” Valera asked. From what Valera could tell, Jade hated her.

“She owes me a favor. She may be reluctant, but I believe you could be a presence for good here in the palace, and we need a great deal more of that,” Bibs said, cheeks reddening as she waved her spoon around. In concert with her motions, the brick floor began to rearrange itself, dropping down, taking Valera's stomach with it. She stooped to a knee and braced herself. The floor fell quickly at first, then slowed and gradually lowered.

The outer ring of bricks stopped, letting the center lower itself even further. The next row of circles stopped, then the next, creating a stadium effect in the dingy basement. The center ring where Valera stood crumbled and created a reclined chair on which the woman collapsed. The chair wrapped itself around her wrists, ankles, and waist.

“Bibs, I need you,” said a familiar voice.

“Bibs!” Valera said. Dammit, she tried to keep the panic from her voice, but it was there.

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“Another favor?” Bibs asked Jade. “Valera, don’t worry. You’re ready for this,” she added in a softer tone.

“It’s for the Ornament,” Jade said.

“I don’t care if it’s from the Emperor,” Bibs said. “It’s you I see asking me.”

From where Valera was sitting she could see Jade’s face flush. “What do you want Bibs?” Jade finally said.

“I want you to assist me with Valera,” Bibs said.

“Done,” Jade said without hesitation.

Bibs narrowed her eyes and inspected Jade. Slowly she said, “You know this means you’ll be her master, and her your apprentice?”

“Starting now,” Jade said. She brandished her wand and pointed it at Valera. “But you Bibs, will soul meld my apprentice to the fat man after her rebirth, while she is in chrysalis.” A flash of light emitted from Jade's wand and searing pain boiled through Valera's arms. She looked down and saw the skin on them open, the trace amounts of fat peeling itself away with the skin. She heard something in the distance, but couldn’t focus on it. Her veins extended and floated above her arms, then dropped into slight concaves which were engraved into the chair on which she rested. They filled with her blood, making the chair look as though it had veins.

The pain began to overwhelm Valera’s senses, and her stomach started to wretch in response. It was empty, so the woman heaved fruitlessly. Pain in her abdomen stabbed at her, she looked and saw Bibs. Her wooden spoon reshaped into a long blade, which was cutting into Valera’s stomach. Bibs was chanting something as she went, a language Valara didn’t understand. Valera began to grow faint, all the training had been for nothing. She couldn’t even bring to mind what the training was for!

As her mind began to fade to blackness, a tunnel opened before her. Her eyes were wet with tears. At the end of the blurry tunnel was a face. Jade? “Focus yourself. Put up the wall apprentice.” Valera didn’t know what wall, but as though reading her mind Jade said, “The wall that is your will. Your magic. You are slipping away, and we need you yet.”

Valera focused, gathering her will. The agony in her body flooded her, straying her focus, but she did not relent. She remembered Kench and found strength in his memory. He had opened her to feel, to love. He didn’t know it, but he had saved her from herself. She gathered the power in the thought and pressed it against the pain. The thoughts fleeted and she was left with three things. Her will, her magic, and the god awful pain. She focused her will again, sharpening its edges and used it to gather her magic up. She used it as a battering ram, hitting the pain will all the force of will she could muster.

The tunnel opened, and the room stood before her as it had, however now her blood flowed freely from her. The fear of imminent death swelled in her bosom; however, her will and magic caught the fear and used it to drive back the pain as well. She could see the blood, she could smell it, but she couldn’t recognize its importance. She had turned into a cycle, torrents of pain held back by an impervious wall of will and magic. She was bestial, nothing more, trapped in a reactionary circuit.

Bibs came into view, coming from behind her. She could hear her now. She was chanting, it was an ancient language, one that sounded familiar but Valera didn’t know where she heard it. Valera knew there was a translation spell here, which had to mean the words Bibs recited were imbued with magic. Bibs stabbed her blade deep into Valera, and said, “Accept this mortal’s offering of life, and grant us a new instrument of death!” She then followed her blade deep into Valera’s abdomen, and up. The woman jerked, pulling and tugging on something inside Valera’s chest.

The pain welled against Valera’s wall, she could feel it cracking through. She looked down at Bibs, fear welling with each jerk of Bibs’ arm. Valera used the fear to seal the cracks in the wall, but the pressure was too much, and the wall burst. She lost complete control of her power, but it somehow kept battling the pain. Not very well though. She felt it, and it was blinding. She lost herself again, pressing everything she was into that torrent of pain. Her sight faded, as did all other forms of awareness. It was her against the pain. She redirected her will, using it as a firehose to douse the agony.

"Valera," said, could she call that a voice? The sound of it made her feel unclean to her core. It was like the scent of rotten flesh, the feeling of losing a loved one, and the tragedy of watching a small child die, but all at once and to her soul.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"God," the voice said. "Die, and be reborn as my disciple." An unseen force sucked every ounce of energy from Valera, pain searing every aspect of her being, then all went black.

Finnigan woke, but slowly. He could feel something within him, something providing strength. It felt familiar. It reminded him of when he was young, and he would hold his older brother after their father had really torn into Gulliver. He cracked his eyes, they were stiff, dry, and slow to open. The light felt like pins and needles. He moved his hand to rub his eyes and blinked several times. The dried crusts slipped past the lids, irritating his eyes further as they scratched. Finally, he was able to gently remove the particles from his eyes.

The air touching his cornea caused another fit of blinking. At long last, he was able to blink tears into place, which were too thick to see through. His eyes began to water, but the heat and irritation from the tears were far better than the dry. He looked around, he was laying on a bed, with a thin blanket covering him. He licked his dried lips, at least they hadn’t cracked; he was grateful for that. The room came more into focus, enabling him to see a few feet in front of him. Beyond the edge of his vision was a silhouette.

“Fei,” he said. At least he tried to say it. What came out was more a grunt than anything. She was here, at his bedside. Their first night together they had made love, and every night since had been void of passion. Fei had to be in control, and Finnigan granted her that, but he had begun to wonder whether she had any feelings for him at all. He had connected with her that first evening, but everything since felt like a different person. But she was here, nursing him back to health in his time of need.

His vision expanded further, and the woman came into focus. “Jade?” he croaked.

“Get the ornament,” she said quietly. A figure to Finnigan's right that he hadn't noticed stepped behind nothing. He had to figure out how they did that.

“Jade,” he said again. His throat was dry, and he began to cough. She moved forward and offered him a drink. It was his healing flask. He took a sip from it, and the familiar warmth spread through him. The dryness was immediately alleviated. He had poured it past his lips, but the magic took effect there too. He kept drinking, the liquid easing the pain in his chest. He drank more still. There was no way the flask held this much liquid, but Finnigan didn’t care. The healing touch spread through him. The fluid wasn’t true healing, he felt sure of that. It was more of a painkiller mixed with magical rejuvenation.

“What happened?” he asked. He remembered a nightmare of her, she was fast and shadowy. He had hit her hard, he’d used his guardian angel spell and fought off a handful of phantom women. “Did you kick me in the face?” he asked, remembering the incident.

“Yes,” Jade said. “We sought to protect you, and you sought to destroy us. I apologize for it, but you would have killed members of my personal entourage had I allowed you to continue.”

“Why did you need to protect me? What did you see?” Finnigan asked, wondering how much the woman knew about what had happened. Had they seen his entire excursion into Kench’s mind.

“You stood, wand pointed at the fat man the whole time,” Jade said to Finnigan through a thick accent.

“Kench,” Finnigan said.

“What?” Jade asked.

“His name is Kench. And he’s a good man and a warrior,” Finnigan said. If nothing else he would stand up for Kench. The man had been through enough already.

“Okay,” Jade said slowly. “You had your wand pointed at Kench. We watched and thought you were threatening him. Perhaps he had failed you, and you decided to kill him. We would not have interfered,” she shrugged with indifference. “Then we saw the slashes run up and down your body. Even as we approached, they healed. We stayed our distance, after some time you collapsed into him. The two of you wept then fell unconscious.”

“I tried to heal his shoulder,” Finnigan offered. “I found something else. Something different. I tried to investigate it, the rest is a blur after that,” he lied. The fact is, he remembered what happened. He just didn’t want to face what he had done to Brutus.

“You used the healing spell of the west. You do not know the dangers of attempting to heal the mind. You should not use that spell,” Jade said, matter of fact.

“Thanks,” Finnigan said. “I’ll bear that in mind. How is Kench?” Finnigan knew he himself would be fine. He had been injured worse than this attempting to sneak past his grandfathers' curfew wards. But they had done some damage inside of Kench’s mind, and Finnigan didn’t know what would happen as a result.

“He is fine. He is with Bibs and his wife,” Jade said.

“His wife?” Finnigan asked, trying to raise from the bed.

“Yes,” Jade answered, gently placing her hand on his chest. “He will be fine, you, on the other hand, need rest. You did not come to this empire to die in practice with your first accepted.”

“I won’t die,” Finnigan said, giving into her soft touch and leaning back. The blade of her finger gently traced the scars on his body.

“Chaxun,” she murmured quietly, tracing her wand behind her finger as she touched him. “There is more than one way to detect injuries, Finnigan Higginbotham. These wounds were not caused by typical magic.”

“I think it was imagination,” Finnigan said, blushing as he said it.

“It is psychic power. It is different from magic. The two forces can battle, but psychic power can do things magic cannot, and magic can do things psychic energy cannot. Some say they are different forms of the same thing.”

“What do you say?” Finnigan asked.

“I say it does not matter. Learn to use both if you can. Not all can. I cannot. Kench is either plagued with a psychic parasite, or he is psychic. Bibs and his wife will find out which,” she said.

“Wait, timeout,” Finnigan said, “Kench isn’t married.”

“Yes. The two of them were wedded by our law. They may have had a ceremony of marriage on the boat. I do not know. However, Kench faded, and the only way to secure his health was with a soul meld. Bibs performed one to tie him to Valera, also binding him to the living world with her.” She paused for thought. “By our law, and by the governing laws of blood magic, they are now soul melded to one another. I suspect you and Kench are soul melded as well. You almost died as his condition worsened. After Valera performed the blood pact, you recovered as well.”

“Well, that’s a lot to take in,” Finnigan said. “I need to see Kench.”

“You cannot,” Jade said. “Finnigan, you are in danger. Your second power stone, did you create it?”

“Yes,” Finnigan said, “How did you know?”

“Whose blood is in the stone?” she asked. “Hurry, we don’t have much time.”

“There is no real blood. It was a figment of Kench’s imagination,” he responded.

“Finnigan, your wand doesn’t contain a typical power stone. It is the crystal of the ancients. Only it can create power stones. It also signifies that in times of emergency you alone control the Magicians' Republic of China,” she said. “To enact this claim, you must be of good health.”

“We need to tell Fei,” he said. He could feel his heart rate increase and his breathing speed up. Why would Jade tell him this?

“Fei would kill you to keep you from using the power.”

“I’m here for one reason, to find the Emperor,” Finnigan said.

“What have you done to do so?” Jade asked. “You’ve been busy working every moment of every day. Fei will not allow anything else.”

“Jade, Fei is good. I’ve felt the good in her,” Finnigan said, remembering their first night together.

“No, you don’t know what you’ve felt,” Jade said. “You’ve been blinded and distracted your entire visit here. Fei has seen to it. The time for practice is over. It is time to embrace the role you now play. You must regain your strength. It will take at least another day.”

“I need to speak with Kench,” Finnigan said again.

“You will have to wait, lost puppy,” said a cold voice behind Jade. Jade flinched and moved away from him.

“Ornament, his injuries are extensive. He was attacked by a major psychic force,” Jade said rapidly.

“I know. I heard my lost puppy woke and didn’t die. I no longer need to acquire a new pet. Jade, you are dismissed,” Fei said.

“But Ornament, Finnigan needs…” Jade began, but a loud bang sounded, and the Regalia flinched backward, blood draining from a slit down her face.

“You need medical attention, Jade,” Fei said. “See that you get it.”

“What the hell?” Finnigan said, not as a question, but instead an accusation. At the exact same time, Jade dashed from the room holding her face. Finnigan made a lunge for his wand, pain searing through his newly earned scars. Just before he reached his wand he jarred his finger on a wall of solid air.

“Now, lost puppy,” Fei said, eyes glinting dangerously. “I am here to claim what is mine. To remind you, that I am The Ornament of the Chinese Empire, The Magician’s Republic of China.”

“You can’t be an empire and a republic,” Finnigan said.

Fei flushed and whipped her wand through the air. A purple whip emitted from the end and slashed Finnigan across the chest. It blazed with pain and the skin immediately welted.

“Where did you get the second power stone?” she demanded. Finnigan felt himself shaking, he didn’t know if it was exhaustion or anger. Without the fulcrum of his wand, he wasn’t sure how much magic he could channel, but he was sure it would be exquisitely painful. He gathered his will and used it to grab for power, and the world around him grew darker. It wasn’t magic, Finnigan was losing consciousness. He couldn’t access magic at all, and trying would leave him more vulnerable.

“What happened?” he asked Fei. There had to be a reason things changed. “You weren’t like this. Our first night together was special. I know you felt it. Then you helped me win my match against the summoner. How come you’re doing this now?”

Fei looked amused. “Lost puppy, it wasn’t I who was with you the first night. It was one of my Regalia. Were you an assassin, I would have been a fool to be with you. I sent a Regalia in disguise. Also, I could learn if you were any good before going to you myself. And the match? I wasn’t there. My brother sent a decoy, and so I sent one in my stead so I could find him. You were fooled.” She laughed, though there was no mirth in it. “You’re a pawn. Nothing more,” she said. “Now,” she lashed him again, this time across the cheek.

Finnigan heard himself cry out. The pain was blinding, and he could feel his face swelling where she had hit him. “You’re a psychopath,” he said.

“Where,” she said, a deadly calm in her voice, “did you get the second power stone?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Finnigan lied.

“I’m going to enjoy getting this information from you,” Fei said. There was mirth in her voice now, she meant it. She was going to enjoy torturing him. She flicked her wand at him, and he felt himself bound by air; arms and legs stretched beyond their natural range to the sides. His old wounds tore open at the scars, blood leaking from his chest in searing agony. He screamed, the pain clouding his vision. Fei flicked her wand and the wounds roughly sealed shut.

“You were found with this in your pocket,” she said, holding up a small transparent vial. Within the vial, was a small red stone. It was the power stone Finnigan had created in Kench’s mind. Fei dropped her dress to the floor then climbed onto him. He fought against his invisible bounds fruitlessly, exhausting himself in mere moments. He felt a foreign strength within him, something that prevented him from passing out. Damn that strength!

“You have to be in good health to claim leadership. I will ensure that does not happen," she said. She began to rotate her hips, grinding against him. He closed his eyes and fought back the tears, she could take him, but he wouldn't let her break him.

“Kench, what’s wrong?” Valera asked.

“I don’t know,” Kench said. “Can you feel that? It feels like, I don’t know. Confusing. It hurts.”

“Yes,” she said. “Is that from the psychic damage?” she asked Bibs.

“Chaxun,” Bibs said, the tip of her spoon glowing. “Whatever it is, it’s coming from your soul meld,” she said after a pause. “Watch.” She held her cooking spoon out and from the inside of the spoon projected something. Then another twin projected out. They looked like pale sheets, one pink, one blue. Both were covered in scars. “I performed your soul meld. It’s an ugly business to perform, but this is what happened on a magical level. The two sheets came together in the middle and fused into one.

“That’s where mine and Valera’s came together?” Kench asked. A fly flew down from somewhere above Kench and buzzed annoyingly around his head. “Our, our souls?” He wouldn’t have thought this possible, but here they were. His soul, bound to Valera’s. The damn fly buzzed off his face again. He swung at it, but his sore muscles were much too slow.

“Only yours seems to have been melded to another.” She flicked her spoon, fat wrist jiggling as she did. The sheets grew, which had a zooming effect. It went to a corner of what Kench assumed was his blue sheet, and showed a mark, it looked like a scar. Instead of neatly being worked together like he and Valera’s, it was patchy and poorly done.

“I don’t know,” Kench said, answering the unasked question. “When I was young my two brothers practiced the healing spell on me. They did things…” He shuddered slightly at the memories. “They both went missing, but maybe they did this.”

“No,” Bibs said. “I suspect they caused a great deal of your other scars, but this? This is a soul meld. It is fresh too. Jade suspects you are melded to your master.”

“Finnigan?” Kench asked. The fly returned, buzzing a tight circle around his head.

“Yes,” Bibs said. “What exactly happened between the two of you?” she asked, eyes narrowing as the woman shifted her sizable bulk into a leaning position.

“I don’t know,” Kench said, looking at the sheet. “I guess we are soul melded,” he added. He felt another jolt come from, well, he assumed one of the soul melds.

Bibs cracked him painfully on the knuckle with a wooden spoon. “No!” she barked. “I mean literally, what do you remember?”

“Not much,” he said, rubbing his knuckle. It was true. The fact was, Kench wasn’t sure what had happened. Bibs brandished her spoon menacingly at him. “I think he came into my mind. I don’t remember everything, but I know he stopped something.” Kench was sure he stopped something. There was a void in the back of his mind, and he felt...better. Like a splinter of wood that had embedded itself deep in his flesh had been removed, leaving the area raw. Except the raw feeling area was his mind, which translated into a hellacious headache.

“Very well,” Bibs said. “Only mortal incidents can create this type of a soul meld.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“One of you, either killed or saved the other. Or perhaps you saved each other,” she said. “Either way, you’re melded. Remember, Valera and you are more melded. Rely on each other. Together, you live.”

The door burst open and in walked Jade. “Bibs,” she said. “We need to talk. Privately.” Bibs and Jade froze in place, staring at each other, then there was a half a moment where Kench was sure he had heard their voices. Each woman shifted slightly, and Jade said, “Valera, with me. Kench, you’re going to spend some time with Bibs.” Valera began to rise with a sense of alacrity.

Kench looked at Bibs and saw a terrible power radiating from the woman. Kench tried to hold his composure, but his grip tightened around his club regardless. Something else changed. Kench looked around, and the world seemed to stop. Valera and Jade froze in place.

“What’s happening?” Kench asked. He saw the fly in front of his face, wings frozen in the air, and he smacked it to the side.

“We are frozen in time,” Bibs said. “Not completely, but as much as I can manage.”

“What?” Kench asked, feeling stupid.

“We are no longer moving along in the same time stream as they are,” Bibs said “Your friend Finnigan came here to help find the Emperor. He can’t do that injured. We are going to time lock you, and let your strength fuel him through the soul meld.”

Kench got a distinct impression that Bibs wasn’t telling him something. He sat and thought for a second, then calmly brought his club to bear. He focused his mind, then shot a quick disarming spell at the unsuspecting Bibs. Her spoon shot straight into his outstretched hand.

“What’re you doing?” she cried.

“Tell me the truth!” Kench said. “The entire truth.”

“When I get that spoon back I’m going to…”

Kench interrupted her with a sharp rap on her knuckle with her own wooden spoon. The woman flinched and rubbed her hand.

“Talk,” Kench said.

And she did. She told Kench about Finnigan, his power stones. About Fei.

“Wait, I thought Fei and Finnigan were a couple,” Kench said.

“No. Fei cares about one thing and one thing only. Power.” Bibs said. “And if she sinks her claws into Finnigan before he heals, she’ll have an entire nation’s worth of power at her disposal. She'll rape him, instill a seed of corruption into him, and use it to manipulate him. That, or she'll keep him injured."

Kench swallowed hard. “How long will we be in here?” he asked as he handed Bibs her spoon.

“As long as we have to. For them? A few days at most. For us, if I can muster it, several years. Now, we might as well learn a thing or two while you’re here. What do you say we swap recipes?”