Sara’s power had reached a point of becoming both frighteningly serious and cartoonish. The rock she threw at Emma broke the sound barrier as it traveled across the river, bending the water down from the air pressure as two waves created a tunnel around it. Before anyone but Sara, Raul, and Emma could process it, the stone hit the barrier with a flash of lightning and crack of thunder, booming as the sky itself rippled. For a moment, it seemed as though nothing could stop Sara’s throw, but to everyone’s shock (after the fact, as they couldn’t even see the interaction), the barrier didn’t so much as crack before it repelled the strike and sent the disintegrating stone flying backward, burning in the atmosphere.

Sara nodded in satisfaction.

“Ah,” Will groaned. “There ain’t no way. Why’d you go easy on her but not on us?” Most the heroes were soaked to the bone from falling into the lake.

Sara chuffed and presented the lake to him. “Didn’t you just see….” She paused and wiped her eyes. “What?” she scoffed in bewilderment. Her attack broke the sound barrier before it hit, causing the sky to warp and ripple—and they thought she went easy?

“I-I…” Will stammered. “It’s just like… aren’t you like… goddamn it….” He gave up trying to explain.

“He’s saying you’re a lot stronger than us,” Helen said. She had become a bit more confident after she and Andy got married last fall, as he was the strike force’s leader. She had also [earned] her spot as number two, and Sara honestly didn’t give a fuck about questions of nepotism so long as things got done.

“It’s not fair to compare the two.” Emma released the spell, casually walking toward Sara on tiny barriers that sprung up under her feet as she walked. It looked so effortless, but Andy tried and ended up falling into the lake on his first step. Raul didn’t fare much better. He looked like he was playing leapfrog as he created large barriers and jumped onto them one by one, likely unwilling to embarrass himself in front of the kingdom’s nobility. “Barriers are cumulative spells,” Emma continued, “they can’t compete.”

Cumulative what? Nobles asked each other.

Sara had a few minutes before Raul made it over to her, so she explained. “Normal spells use mana within you.” Sara created a water ball, slowing it down to watch mist forming in the air before entering into the ball. “Cumulative spells use mana from the environment.” She moved the ball to the lake and then attracted water. The lake water rushed to it in torrents, creating a splashing spiral of waving water, getting sucked into a beautiful sphere that became massive in seconds. The demonstration wasn’t accurate since she was using her personal mana for both actions, but the visual made sense. “Barriers use the mana within you [and] the environment,” Sara said. “If it couldn’t withstand a rock, it’d be pretty useless against Agronus.” Sara would probably be able to crack it on the first attack with the Bow of Rymac or break it (at Emma’s current density) with one full-powered strike from the God Slayer—but even that was a problem. Sara needed Emma to protect them from Agronus—however strong he proved to be—in the event the rontum prison around his castle broke. It was a serious concern since Qualth attracted mana, and at Sara’s current strength, using Qualth in Agronus’s Castle could fill up the rontum around the castle (which was used for mana deprivation shackles), rendering it useless and giving Agronus his full power back. Then, it was anyone’s guess what would happen.

Sara smiled and helped Emma to shore. They hugged (because she technically wasn’t queen anymore, so fuck political ceremony), and then she called out to Raul: “Hurry up! We’ve needa talk about the trip.”

Nobles and heroes alike watched with grim fascination as Raul hopped onto barriers with both feet, sweating hard, unsure whether to root him on or give in to their dark desire to watch him fail at the last second. On the surface, they cheered him on.

“Apologies for barging in on your banquet,” Sara said to the nobles.

“No problem! In fact, if you wish to join us after your meeting—“

“I’m a bit busy today. Please enjoy it without me.”

Raul’s last barrier broke, and he stumbled, only to find that he was on shore already. “Why didn’t you offer me a hand?” he grumbled.

“Be a man.” Sara chuckled and walked off. “Keep training!” she called out to the heroes. “If I can break your concentration next time, I’m upping your training!”

Darius led the chorus of groans, making Sara smile. Not because she reveled in their misery but because they liked her enough not to sound like bitter servants when she expected more from them. Life was good for once.

2

The Dreena District wasn’t what it was the last time Sara walked through it. Before, it was a squalid wasteland of shanty towns where children lived—and died—off pickpocketing patrons of whore houses and gambling dens. Escorts prowled the streets while drug dealers peddled kekel, a type of mana herb that boosted mental acuity in small doses and helped people see Emanasa in high dosages (much like the benefits of caffeine versus methamphetamine). Now, the streets were clean, and while there were still houses for sex work, the women walking around weren’t high on drugs and tattered with bruises. Gambling had a curfew, and people didn’t have to worry as much about getting robbed. It had improved considerably.

Sara walked through the area, feeling her hot breath within a mask as she walked toward Lilli’s—her favorite tavern. Beside her, Raul and Emma walked in animal masks as well, though Raul’s characteristic size and skin color always gave him away, so they entered through the back.

“God, it’s hot,” Sara said inside, taking off her mask. “Hey, Lil.”

“Well I’ll be,” Lilli said with a bright smile. “I ain’t seen you since… well, yesterday. Bit frequent for a quitter ain’t it?”

Raul turned to Sara with wide eyes.

Sara rolled her eyes and stared at Lilli’s mischievous grin.

“I didn’t say she was drinkin’,” Lilli said, lifting up twalla mugs. “I’m gonna take these ‘round. Ya’ll go upstairs and make yourself comfortable.”

Sara chuffed and looked at her friends, tilting her head to the stairs. They followed her up to the room and sat down, panting until Emma set up a small cooling spell to lower the temperature.

“So what’s the word?” Raul asked as Sara casually chilled glasses with ice magic while Emma filled them with water. “You ready to go?” He was talking about going on a quest to Sayon’s Crypt in Elcalore to obtain Sayon’s Staff for Emma, the Bow of Rymac, and Sayon’s magical texts—which Sara utilized but couldn’t make the most of. Emma could, so it would be a major advantage in this life to get those texts to her.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Sara lifted her glass to her lips and froze. “I don’t want to leave Daniel unattended.”

Emma stopped filling glasses. “Are you really sure it’s him? It could be anyone….” No one knew Brandon’s thoughts or memories before he died, leaving them without confirmation.

“Who?” Sara asked. “Someone needed access to Brandon. Do you suspect another hero? A mastermind in the castle?”

Emma bit her lip.

Sara took a drink, feeling the cool water go down her throat. “It’s Daniel. His personality changed. His behavior…. He even had a motive.”

Emma looked away because Sara had told her that his motive was likely bringing [her] back to life.

“Sara, I don’t think anyone doubts it was Daniel,” Raul said. “But we agreed not to kill him, and the likelihood he’ll even wake up is slim. It’s a miracle Edico’s kept him alive this long.” Daniel saved Edico’s life, so the latter had mages use hydration spells and sustainment spells to keep him alive, even though there wasn’t a ventilator or feeding tubes. He was in bad shape.

“Even if he does wake up, he’s gonna have cognitive impairment,” Emma said softly. “Assuming the rock didn’t already scramble his brains.”

“You can’t trust modern medicine,” Sara said. “The record prevents countless diseases. There’s no cancer. No Alzheimers.” The [spirit record] was the body’s blueprint of the body at any given point. It ensured that the body healed to the way it was before the injury, no matter how bad it was. It didn’t last forever. Within a six-hour window, healing magic could rebuild and reset any part of a living organism to the way it was—except the human mind (the brain would heal, but their consciousness wouldn’t return). That meant that someone could fix spinal problems, brain injuries (as long as it didn’t affect a person’s memories), and other complex operations. Within 24 hours, healers could fix muscles. Within 36, they could heal surface wounds. After that, [healing] wouldn’t work because it was used for mending, and there was nothing in the blueprint to mend. That said, there was a [deep record] that allowed the body to heal naturally toward the body’s record (though that version of the record was the subject of illegal magic.)

“That we know of,” Emma said about Sara’s statement that there was no cancer or Alzheimers. “There’s no medical records here, Sara.”

“And more importantly, the record hasn’t stopped his muscles from atrophying,” Raul added. “He’s skin and bones, Sara. Even if he cultivates a body constitution, it’d take months before he could walk again.” Body constitutions were a record, like the spirit record. Once someone cultivated a body constitution, their body started healing to that new record. Yet, like healing magic, it didn’t fill in what was missing. Daniel would still need to build his muscles naturally to fill in the blueprint—in normal circumstances.

“There’s ways,” Sara said. She turned to Emma. “You know that.”

Emma healed Edico’s missing arm during the Three-Front Siege using another person’s corpse for building blocks. It was horrific, but worked, rebuilding Edico’s arm to his spirit blueprint. That said, it wasn’t the same. The bone density was far less, and the body hadn’t been blessed with the profound benefits of thirty years of mana circulation—but it worked. Compared to Edico walking around with a stub, he was blessed by an action that Emma didn’t know at the time was illegal.

“Daniel’s not that skilled, Sara,” Emma sighed. “If it was easy to do, it wouldn’t be illegal—but it’s not. Most people who try end up with disfigured limbs that need amputated. And even if you know someone skilled enough to pull it off….” She swallowed and looked away. “You need a fresh body. Sara.” She looked Sara in the eye. “Do you think he’s that evil?”

Sara bit her tongue. Daniel tried to rob her and nearly killed her, Emma, Raul, and Aelia. Yet she didn’t think he would’ve killed her (it was more likely he’d run away with the sword). She felt his motives—likely to bring back Emma—were pure, and he obviously saved Edico’s life. Daniel wasn’t evil—

—that’s why she let him be as long as she did.

“No,” Sara said—but she didn’t shake her head. “I don’t think Daniel’s evil. But we’re talking about someone who turned back time. That’s the type of magic that makes my accomplishments look like brute force. If you don’t think someone like that can figure out basic… life problems, you’re out of your minds.”

Raul ran his fingers through his hair. “Brain damage. Muscular atrophy. Twenty-four-hour supervision. Sara… It’s a three-month trip maximum, and you’ll have a direct line to the kingdom. If Daniel goes missing, you’ll know immediately. You can get back in two weeks with your speed.”

Sara clenched and unclenched her fist in consistent intervals, feeling her heart constricting, mind hazy. It all sounded so reasonable—but life wasn’t reasonable. Daniel was brilliant, cunning, capable, adept at hiding his true nature, and had ten years’ worth of contacts and experience. He was just like her, and she used her power to bring down a kingdom. God, she wished he died in the fire that took Mary and Trinov Escar.

“Sara,” Raul repeated. He forced her to make eye contact. “You can’t let this control you.”

Sara stopped clenching her fist and took a drink of water. “I’ll talk to Edico.”

Raul nodded, and there was an awkward silence until Emma changed the subject.

“Oh!” Emma lit up. “Did you guys hear? Darius has a thing for Tara. It’s like one of those… forbidden love things.” Tara once led the anti-Sara faction but refused to join the dissidents when she ran away. She ended up joining the heroes on the strike team.

Raul’s lips curved into a grin when he saw Sara’s face, and she couldn’t help but smile and look away. “Now you’re just fucking with me,” she said. “I’ve never seen anyone argue so much.”

“Or spend so much time together,” Raul said.

“Right!” Emma exclaimed. “Today…” she began, recounting a story.

Sara smiled, feeling uplifted as Emma expressed the brightness she was known for before being summoned to Reemada. Yet there was darkness in the back of Sara’s mind. A lot could happen in three months, and she got a bad feeling about Daniel—it crept deep into her bones, singing melodies of paranoia and darkening despair. Daniel. Of all the people that she had ever admired and lauded and feared, it was Daniel Winters—lying in a coma in the top tower of the Royal Castle—that she feared most. It was enough to bypass all the rational arguments that Raul and Emma continually made. So, that night, she would visit him and see his condition for herself.