Ravuhn, they are called. Faster, stronger, and more resilient than thought possible, the agility and sheer power they wield are truly impressive. If only I could pry their secrets out of them, I could revolutionize the Arts.

- Elusco, Bane of the Sadmora. Dated -50 b.f.

“Need control Taint.”

The noise of the workers of the harbor nearly drowned out their conversation. Silas was glad for the ambient noise. In the Shelter, you never knew who was listening.

Silas ground his teeth. “I know. I’m trying.”

When the Taint had coursed through him during the fight, he’d lost himself in its power. Now, his body hurt all over, his mind wandering to his bed.

“You had purple things in eyes.” Zaya’s hands imitated writhing snakes. “Not be good.”

“You don’t know how it feels. It’s like a bottomless well of energy, waiting to be used. Once it’s taken a hold, it’s almost impossible to resist.”

Nurana frowned. “That’s odd. From what I know, as soon as the Taint’s corruption takes over, the Artist attacks everything within their sight as their Inner Landscape is consumed by the Taint. Controlling it even remotely shouldn’t be possible.” Nurana lowered her voice. “I think it’s best if we keep this to ourselves. We don’t want anybody here to think you could lose control. We need access to their tunnels,” she intoned. “Then, once we have the last dose and Gnarly’s cure, we can relay the information to the Empress and leave this city.”

A small figure bumped into Nurana, almost causing her to stumble. The person was covered in veils, mumbling something intelligible as they continued on their way. Silas turned around, but the person was already gone. “Are you alright?” he asked Nurana.

“Yeah, he just stumbled, I think. He didn’t steal anything.”

Zaya took a random turn to the right. They had agreed on discussing things outside rather than in the Shelter. “At least know what Ascended are looking for.”

“That should satisfy Omei, for now.”

Nurana tsked. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“What not make sense?”

“It was too easy.” Nurana shook her head. “The Empress is bound to have countless people trying to gather information on the Cult. I find it hard to believe she isn’t aware of something we found out after half a fortnight.”

“Then why would she task us with it?”

“That’s the point. It doesn’t add up. On the other hand, she is investing resources in us, so we must have some use for her. But maybe, it’s—“ Nurana stopped, taking out a small slip of paper from her right pocket. She frowned. “That hasn’t been there before.”

The group stopped, standing beside a small stand selling fish. Nurana unfolded the slip of paper. “It’s a message.”

“From whom?”

Nurana’s eyes trailed the paper. “From Omei. He wants me to meet him at a tavern in the upper city later today.”

Silas’s eyes observed the people passing by. “It seems the man bumping into you wasn’t a coincidence.”

Nurana put the paper back into her pocket. “Omei ‘requested’ the state of our investigation. Let’s hope that us having gained the trust of Aiza and Ashnur is enough for him to give us our second dose of the medicine.” She shot a glance at Silas. “I’ll go alone. Gnarly can hide in my robes if he wants to.”

“Creak!”

“No like you going alone.” Zaya crossed her arms.

“Creak!” Gnarly enlargened one of his arms to slap Zaya’s leg with a small vine.

“We talked about this,” Nurana intoned. “Both of you will attract way too much attention. I don’t know if the Cult of the Ascended is observing us, but if they are, they will likely be able to trace Omei back to the Empress. There’s too much at stake. We can’t risk them finding out anything about our connection to the Empress.”

“Alright, but I leave with you. Want to find out more about boomballs. Maybe find merchant who knows how to make similar magical things.”

“Just don’t experiment in here, please.” Nurana stared at Zaya and waited until she nodded.

“Fine,” Zaya relented. “But not be dangerous.”

“Uh-huh.” Nurana turned to Silas. “Will you stay here?”

“Yes. I want to work on my Landscape, I think I know how to make some progress there.”

“Then it’s settled. See you later today, then.” Nurana went for the door. “Ah, and Silas?” She stopped, turning around. “Try not to puke all over the ground again, if you don’t mind?”

Silas rolled his eyes.

***

Walking through the crowded streets of Nu-Taquim, Nurana had never felt so alone. Back when she’d still been a servant of Ixchel, the people had at least respected her for her work despite her supposed origin. Nurana shook her head. Born in the streets of Kuzant, the only thing differentiating her from the other kids scrounging for food had been the color of her skin and the scales covering her forearms. People kept looking down at her because of a mother she’d never come to know, a mother she’d learned to hate. If it hadn’t been for her, Nurana would be normal. Not this monster. This ‘other’.

Now, the people passing her by wore different clothes and the color of their skin much resembled hers, yet the expressions on their faces were the same. Apprehension. Barely concealed disgust, visible through a passing glance. The reflexive pulling back as they saw her skin, too light to be a Drakhonian, yet too dark to be a Ceraviehlian. Ironically, neither side seemed to care about that. Both of them just saw her as something different, something to be avoided. Lest her disease spread over to them, too.

Nurana was still surprised at how she’d almost teared up when Imira, the cook in the grand hall, had called her a half-sister as if she were one of their people. Luckily, neither Zaya nor Silas seemed to have noticed. Someone needed to keep a cool head, and if it weren’t for Nurana, either of the two would have already started a fight ten times over. Especially with Silas’ current condition.

Judging from the awkwardness earlier, the two seemed to have gotten closer yesterday evening. Nurana shook her head. About time. The two were way too similar to pretend to be different. Nurana tried her best to be happy for them. Instead, it just made her feel more alone.

Gnarly moved in the compartment beneath her clothes, petting her stomach. Such a strange creature. Nurana had read a lot about different and sometimes very unusual creatures, yet she had never heard, or read, anything about a creature like Gnarly. It was hard to believe Silas had bonded with him out of pure luck.

Shaking the desolate thoughts from her mind, she steeled herself for the conversation to come. She could pity herself later. There was work to do, and people depended on her.

The tavern was markedly less rowdy than the one they were staying in. The patrons sat around small stone tables, chatting in low voices as they ate their lunch. A lone man sat near the back wall, idly slurping a bowl of soup. If Nurana didn’t know what to look for, she would have missed him without a doubt.

He had a face that seemed so ordinary it might have as well been a mask. Apart from the black ring on his little finger, nothing set him apart from the rest of the people. He looked up at Nurana as she stepped in, smiling at her pleasantly. He was good. Nurana would have to be careful around him.

She sat down on the chair opposite him. “Hello.”

“Hello, Nurana,” he greeted her.

Omei’s light smile seemed carved into his mouth. Nurana couldn’t detect a hint of bad intentions from him, and that worried her. If she hadn’t known any better, she’d have considered him as a friendly man, not an interrogator under service of the Empress.

Omei waited as a waiter put tea in front of her. Weird. Omei must have ordered it before she entered. “Before we begin, I’m afraid I have to clarify something,” he said, folding his hands on the table.

“Please go ahead.”

“When I tell you to do something, you do it. When I tell you to come alone, you. Come. Alone,” Omei said. “I don’t do warnings, but since today is such a nice day, I will refrain from confiscating whatever creature is hiding under your clothes.”

Nurana forced a smile on her face. “I am deeply grateful for your forbearance.” She knew taking Gnarly had been a bad idea. She should have listened to her gut. Damn it, Silas.

“I’m sure you are.” Omei’s smirk deepened. “You may report.”

Omei listened silently as Nurana informed him of their relation to Galmor and the other people in the hall. Leaning forward, he sipped his tea as Nurana finished. “The boy seems to trust you. Good. Ashnur may become crucial in the future. Stay close to him. His mother is one of our main suspects at the moment.”

Nurana failed to hide her surprise. “Imira, the cook?”

“Don’t be fooled, girl,” Omei admonished her. “She may seem friendly, but she is connected to multiple attacks around the city and likely also the one behind the recent raid on Nur-Lazim’s arsenal. Her fate is already sealed, the only question is when we strike. The entire Hall is nothing but a front to draw the people on their side.” Omei’s lips twitched. “Despicable creatures.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Nurana had supposed that the Hall was nothing but a tool to influence the people, but Imira supposedly being involved with the Ascended’s attacks around the city surprised her. She seemed too nice to kill someone in cold blood.

“We also found out that Galmor seems to get funding from unknown sources to provide the people with food. We were directly disincentivized from asking, however.” Nurana hesitated a heartbeat. They needed more information, they couldn’t keep stumbling around in the dark. “Do we already know who supplies the funding? If so, we could direct our efforts elsewhere.”

Omei licked his lips, and he raised his chin to look down at her. “I like you. Shame that you’re not a real Drakhonian. We could have used you.”

Nurana knew he said it to rile her up, but couldn’t prevent the anger boiling up in her. Omei’s smile widened just a fraction. “I will humor you, but only because I like you. The Ascended are in possession of various valuables, mostly metals and gems. We suspect some of the nobles trade with them in exchange for other goods, mainly food. Keep your focus on the boy and Galmor, they will be the most important figures in the days to come. You are hereby permitted to support the Ascended in fights against Nu-Taquim’s guards, provided the results bring you into their cave system. If, however, we deem your results as insufficient, you will face the consequences.”

“We understand. It also came to our attention that there is lots of talk in the Lower District about the drafting for the upcoming war. Is it—“

Her words got stuck in his throat as Omei’s eyes grew cold. “You’re overstepping. Don’t make me say it again.”

Nurana nodded. At least she had tried.

“This is likely to be the last time you’ll see me. Once you’re in the tunnels, you’ll meet our other informant. They’ll have the liberty to provide you with the rest of the medicine.” He laid a small bag on the table and dismissed her with a flick of his finger. “You may go.”

“Thank you for your time.” Nurana took the bag and moved to stand up. For once, she couldn’t wait to be in the streets again. There was something about Omei that screamed at her to run far, far away.

Omei held up a hand, stopping her midway. “And Nurana?”

She froze, one hand still on the table as she stood up. “You only have one shot at this. For your sake, try not to screw it up.”

***

Taking Nurana’s advice to heart, Silas put a pot before him as he took the dose Omei had just given them. The thick liquid ran down his throat before settling in his stomach. His previous attempts at getting rid of the violet clusters of the Taint may have proven successful, but Silas wasn’t satisfied with the way he used the medicine. It had seemed too crude. Power needed direction. Purpose.

At its core, the medicine was just that. Undirected power. The more he worked with it, the more he began to see similarities between the uncontrolled, violet flashes of the Taint and the stable, firm energy of the medicine. The two may have been opposites, but inherently, they represented the same idea. The same concept.

Silas turned his attention towards one of the clusters inside his Inner Landscape. There were many single threads swimming in his Landscape, but if they didn’t meet others soon enough, they would either dissipate or get consumed by the mist of his Landscape. Whenever they coagulated, however, the Taint formed swirling masses of violet lightning, held together by a multitude of tightly interwoven threads.

Taking small parts of the simmering power sitting in his stomach, he prodded one of the clusters to see how it would react. A single flash of lightning shot from the cluster towards the white energy, eliminating it as the two forces clashed. The Taint had no conscious, no will, no intent. It merely reacted.

The medicine was similar in that regard. It needed an incentive, a path to follow. Observing the cluster once more, Silas singled out a thread that wove its way from the outer layers into the core.

With a concentrated ray of white power, Silas directed the medicine towards it, grunting at the flash of pain coming from his chest. As the thread dissolved, he forced the medicine into the cluster, simultaneously using the brown mist and swirls of Darkness from his Landscape to wedge itself into the cluster.

With an effort of will, the Taint’s cluster shattered. The remaining loose tendrils were soon overwhelmed by the Arts in his Landscape. There was still a bit of medicine left, so Silas quickly directed it towards the next cluster. He couldn’t help but smile inwardly. He hadn’t even puked.

***

The nearer they got towards the lower district, the more people began to recognize Nurana. It seems word had spread about her healing abilities. While there was a temple of Ixchel in Nu-Taquim, it was located somewhere in the upper districts. People in this part of the city didn’t get the privilege to pay for a stay in the infirmary.

“If we get another dose soon enough, I think I might be able to completely cleanse the Taint from my Landscape,” Silas told his friends as they made their way to the Hall.

Nurana finished speaking to a small woman with thin, white hair and turned to him. “Impressive. I was surprised, but the Taint is almost cleansed from my Landscape, too. I didn’t think it would work that well on you, considering you took the brunt of the explosion when you shot the energy storage behind the Sphinx.”

“Good to hear,” Zaya nodded at him. “Think we have good chance at healing Taint.”

Silas agreed, but as long as the Taint was there, it would continue to grow. If they didn’t finish the mission soon enough, the Taint would grow too much to be cleansed by one dose. They were completely at the mercy of the Empress and her informant. If only it were possible to cleanse the Taint without the medicine.

“The conversation with Omei was quite interesting,” Nurana began. “First of all, the Empress’ position isn’t as secure as we assumed.”

“What makes you think that?” Silas asked her.

“From what I’ve gathered, the Ascended have close ties to the nobility. That’s how they get their supplies, mainly food. In order to prevent the Cult from gaining more traction, the Empress needs to make the food the Ascended are buying worthless. I believe that’s the real reason why she allied herself with the Adjhin’tor. By reconquering Bounty’s Reach, she will have enough farmland to supply the whole city, and more.”

“I don’t know much about politics, but going to war when there is a Cult threatening your city doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

“She doesn’t have a choice, I believe. We don’t know how large the tunnels below Nu-Taquim are, but some of them refer to it as the Undercity. The Cult may be larger than we thought. With the Adjhin’torian support, she won’t have to delegate her entire army to Bounty’s Reach to seize it.

Zaya raised her eyebrows. “Omei tell you this?”

“Not directly, but it’s obvious. She can’t take Bounty’s Reach by herself, especially not with the Cult supposedly sitting somewhere below the city. And judging by how hard they are trying to hide any information about the war from leaking out, they must be worried about the Ascended having members in the military, as well.”

Silas sighed. “I hate politics. Things were so much simpler a year ago.”

“According to Omei, our best bet to gain access to the tunnels is either through Galmor or Adrian. If push comes to shove, Omei even gave us permission to fight the guards, if, and only if, we provide adequate results”

“The Empress really must be desperate,” Silas mused.

“Why Ashnur? He also be Ascended?”

“Maybe. His mother seems to be connected to multiple attacks throughout the city. If we can get to him, we can get to her.”

Silas shot an incredulous look at Nurana. “Imira? The cook?”

“Yes, I found it hard to believe as well.”

“You trust Omei?” Zaya asked her.

“I don’t trust anyone in this city. But giving us false information would only jeopardize the resources they invest in us. He seemed pretty certain about her involvement with the Ascended.”

They walked back to the Shelter, each one mulling over the recent events. Gaining access to the tunnels of the Cult of the Ascended wouldn’t be easy, but if they wanted to prevent the Taint from taking over completely, they didn’t have a choice.

The children of the Shelter soon began asking Zaya for advice on the Arts, something she seemed to enjoy. They were so respectful to Silas that he sometimes forgot he was only a few years older than most of them.

A few days later, Aiza asked them to help out Galmor, so the group made their way towards the hall following the breakfast.

They knew something was wrong the moment they stepped foot into the grand hall. The people spoke in hushed whispers. Suspicious glances were cast their way as Silas and his friends entered.

Galmor stood near the back with Adrian by his side. The old man rested one hand on the young Drakhonian’s shoulder as he spoke to him. A large, violet bruise covered Adrian’s head, his fists clenched as he stared at Galmor. Nurana led the way, stopping a few feet before Galmor to finish their conversation.

Ashnur looked up, his eyes defiant as he met Galmor’s gaze. The anger in them resonated more with Silas than he would have liked.

“Did something happen?” Nurana asked the prophet as the old man approached.

Galmor looked tired, leaning over more than usual. “It’s Imira. The guards broke into their house and took her in the middle of the night.”

Silas tried to look surprised. “Imira? For what?”

Galmor slowly shook his head, strands of white hair dangling from his scalp. “They charged her with compliance with the Ascended and worse. The people are upset, to say the least. It took me the better part of the day to prevent them from storming the royal prison.”

Nurana laid a hand on her chest. “I’m sorry for what happened. Imira was such a kind soul.”

“Don’t be sorry, child.” Galmor smiled weakly. “Nothing you had to do with it. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here, to help the people.” Galmor patted Nurana’s cheek.

“Always,” Nurana assured him.

While Silas had gotten better at controlling his emotions, he marveled at Nurana’s ability to show genuine concern on her face. How was she so good at this?

“Anything we can do?” Zaya offered.

Galmor sighed. “The food still needs to be delivered. You can ask Ashnur if he still wants to do it. I think the distraction would do him good. If he doesn’t, you might as well do it by yourselves. You’ve done so often enough, I trust you.”

Silas clenched his jaw. He hated all this lying and manipulating. It made him feel sick inside.

“Thank you, Galmor,” Nurana said. “Let’s hope Imira is freed soon.”

Galmor smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Let’s hope.”

They found Ashnur standing in the back room of the hall, holding a wooden ladle as if it could break at any moment. He didn’t look up as Nurana entered.

“Ashnur.”

“What?” He hissed, laying the ladle on the table in front of him.

Looking up, his face softened a bit as he saw them. “Oh, it’s you. Guess you already heard the news from Galmor?” he asked bitterly.

“Yes. For what it’s worth, we’re sorry,” Nurana said.

Adrian inhaled deeply, his breath shaking as he placed the ladle carefully on the table. “Why would they do that? My mother was innocent. Couldn’t have harmed a soul.”

Zaya stepped forward, laying a hand on his. “Imira is good person.”

Silas’ right eye began to twitch. Energy surged through his Landscape, roiling against its boundaries. Silas took a breath to calm herself.

“That she is. Who knows if I ever get her back. People accused of meddling with the Ascended tend to not be seen again.”

“I’m sure you will,” Silas said.

“What happened to your head?” Nurana pointed at the large swelling near the left side of his head, protected by a crude bandage.

“When they broke in and took her, I tried to stop them.” Adrian let out a half-hearted laugh. “Couldn’t even reach them. The guard just backhanded me and sent me sprawling into the closet. I couldn’t do anything.”

Silas’ chest constricted. “I know how it feels.”

Ashnur met his gaze, a brief moment of understanding passing between the two.

“Let me what I can do about that. Please sit down.” Nurana gestured towards the chair behind him.

Ashnur waved her off. “Really, that’s not necessary. It will be gone in a week or so.”

“Ashnur.” Nurana’s tone brooked no argument. “You’re hurt. Sit down.”

Ashnur sat down. Nurana laid a hand on his head, the wound slowly closing as the flesh knit itself together. Ashnur flinched. “Gods, that itches.”

“Could be worse,” Silas commented.

Ashnur gave a half-hearted laugh. “I suppose.” Ashnur’s eyes were fixed on the ladle lying on the table. “They went too far, this time. They can’t expect us to just accept this. We’re not cattle, waiting to be brought to slaughter in the Empress’ cells.”

“You don’t think there’s hope the judges will be able to prove her innocence?” Silas asked.

“Most of the judges don’t even consider the Ascended as human. Just because some of us want to reawaken our bloodline. I can’t,” Ashnur clenched his fists, “I won’t accept this. We may not always have seen eye to eye, but she’s all I have left.”

Nurana’s healing stopped for a heartbeat. “What do you plan to do?”

Ashnur’s eyes flickered up at her. “I have a…friend who owes me a favor. He’s already received his first boon. Maybe he can help me.”

“Whatever it is, you can count on us to help you. We’re not afraid to get our hands dirty. You’ll find no sympathy for the Empress with us.”

Ashnur touched his head, the wound now closed. “I saw that. If it weren’t for you, Aiza and Layla would be dead.”

“First the attack on the Shelter, now this,” Nurana said. “Maybe Aiza was right. The time for playing soldier is over.”

Ashnur nodded, his face resolute. “Maybe it is.”