Can you guys hear me now?!

Silence remained the music of Koray’s mind, while she was overcome with the fissures of tension in those around her. Undoubtedly, Tynan and Elidi were arguing, their magics pressed to one another, their souls separate from their flesh and nitpicking one another in the open air.

She shifted a little in an attempt to better tuck her right foot into the crook of her left knee. The only result was a flash of light in the gray of her mind and the beginnings of a promising foot cramp.

She opened her eyes, her lips pursing together as her Master’s smile faltered and then vanished. Caligo gestured towards the door and Koray hung her head as she rose. Her Master led her towards the door and waved her goodbyes to her other compatriots. Koray gave a half-hearted wave over her shoulder as they crossed the threshold back into the basilica of Sanctum.

“Do not blame yourself,” Caligo assured. “We caught you before you had a chance to rest. You are likely depleted.”

“Have I been depleted for ten years?” Koray mumbled. It was not enough that she excelled in the different gifts her Patroness offered her, but she could not find its epicenter. “The books I have been reading say nothing of the last Vessel having an issue with finding the well of her power.”

“What have I told you about comparing yourself to the others?” A few stars in Caligo’s pewter eyes winked out as her demeanor dimmed.

“That I will not be held to the standards of the last century. That in moments of adversity I should thank my body for its resilience and gift it rest.” She repeated this back to her Master in the same tone that the young priestesses would chant during nightly mantras.

Caligo turned her attention out into the basilica. “Arctos!” The flora in an oversized planter came to life with a slight wriggle. The Sun priests that passed it, did so with new caution. “Arctos, we know you’re there!” From the shrubbery, a set of grey ears protruded and flicked in anticipation.

“You’ve been away from Elysian for too long, Caligo. He will only answer the call,” Koray said with a shake of her head. She let the hum begin in her chest, her own vocal chords straining to find the right pitch. When she opened her mouth, her voice, ethereal and holy, rang out in a chant that had been carried up and down Elysian’s mountains for centuries. She flushed as it echoed through the basilica.

Sun disciples stopped and stared, while a few late working Moon scholars closed their eyes and imagined home. It was a group of Darkness monks that happened to be crossing near the planter to keep safe in its shade that were nearly bowled over by the gray wolf who rolled out of the shrubbery and bolted towards her.

“Good boy,” she praised as he sat in front of her. She crouched to press her forehead against his in greeting. “Did you stay out of trouble while I was meditating?”

He lapped at her face.

“Did you get the book?” she asked in a hushed tone that only her wolf would hear.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The steady beating of his tail against the floor was all the confirmation she needed.

“Feel better?” Caligo asked as she lowered herself down to one knee beside Arctos.

With a quick kiss on his snout, Arctos returned to his planter, likely to guard the book that Koray had sent him to steal from the Archives. “There is very little disappointment that an Arctos kiss can’t fix.”

Caligo gripped her forearm, bringing her Vessel in to press her forehead against Koray’s. “Go and get some rest. We will work on your meditations this evening.” The wafting scent of citrus that always clung to Caligo’s robes was almost enough to put Koray’s mind to rest…but then there was that book in the planter. Sensing her reluctance, Caligo reached up and gave one of Koray’s silver curls a tug. “Rest is productive,” she whispered.

Koray rolled her eyes. “Arctos and I will return to my room and do our best to rest.”

At the mention of his name, Arctos’ tail burst from the shrubbery and began to wag furiously enough to slap a Sun scholar in the face and send him sprawling to the floor. As his papers rained down around him, Koray saw their opportunity. She rose, starting the call again, this one was deep and harsh, a warning to split the frigid air over the crags.

Arctos leapt out of the planter and took off on a sprint towards her room and Caligo, who had rushed to help the priest, was too busy to see the rather large tome he carried off with him. “May the Sun shine upon the rest of your day,” she said to the scholar with a slight bow. “I will be sure to reprimand him.”

She was jogging away from her Master before the woman had the chance to reprimand Koray for not helping the man gather his things. While their rooms were set apart from the rest of the studying priests, priestesses and monks, Koray knew her way around the grounds enough that she could avoid the busier corridors. She passed only the older priests and priestesses on her way to her room and all offered her small nods or whispered blessings.

Once over the threshold into her bedroom, she turned to check her wards. The silver threads manifested under her palm and her whole door glowed with protective stardust. She traced each thread to ensure that everything was connected and strong. “All is in good order,” she said to herself.

A huff behind her brought a fiendish smile to her lips. She spun on heel and charged towards her bed to dive on top of her wolf. “Who is such a good boy? Arctos is! Yes you are, you handsome man!” Her aggressive pets and praises were met with a chorus of happy yips and huffs as he wiggled in her arms. “You didn’t get caught right?”

Arctos sneezed, his ears suddenly turned down, as his nimbus colored eyes narrowed on her.

“I know, how dare I even ask?” she stated, ruffling the fur between his ears before finding the tome resting on her desk chair. She was about to rise, but as her excitement wore off, exhaustion covered her like a blanket of heavy snow. Her magic broke apart in her veins as it receded towards her center. It was a side effect of her insomnia that she knew to take seriously. “A little rest wouldn’t hurt. And I have you around, right Arctos?”

She rose and began to close the curtains, until there was only one window at the far end of her room, which she left open. With a deep breath, she turned to face the now dark path back to her bed.

“This is your room,” she reminded herself as her mind rallied to convince her there was some danger in the darkness. Her eyes flashed to her door again even though she knew she had just checked the wards. She wanted to check them again, but now her door was nestled in oblivion. “You’re so tired. And you’ve been doing better.”

Because Tynan has been here. There had been something about Tynan’s dark, glittering eyes that had reassured her in this man-made night. He was certain that there was nothing in her room, certain that there was no threat of monsters, only him and her and a peaceful stillness between them.

She dared another look across the expanse of her room to find Arctos’ staring out at her from the dark. She closed her eyes and whispered the mantra Tynan had given her. “The dark is mine to illuminate. The shadows recede by my command.” A few repetitions and her heart had settled on a steady rhythm. And with one final breath, she stepped into the dark.