“You're doing what?”
“Article fifteen, section four, paragraphs three through six. We’re formally restarting the Luminaires.” Kyle recites from memory and taps the side of his nose while her mother leers at him. “You can look it up, you know. It's basically a little contingency they left in, just in case the world went to shit and someone had to bring a bucket and a whole lot of mops.”
“Spare me the vivid and unflattering imagery, Kylancer,” she sighs. Kyle's just a nickname? No wonder he corrects her a second later with a look of indignation. “Just tell me what it says.”
“The inheriting members of the Luminaires may invoke a declaration of emergency with the blessing of the top three Valkyries, or with the approval of the Chancellor of the Conclave. Seeing as we don’t really have a path to talk to the leaders of the Conclave…guess who that leaves?” He smiles nervously, and Julia gives him a gentle shake of her head. Her mother is likely going to be in no mood to do this.
“Well, I’m not going to sign off on this. You are all on lockdown, after this week. I can’t protect you if you’re all galivanting across the world in a harebrained attempt to stop Crosomer, King, and Valosterla. We are the professionals on this matter. Not you.” Her mother’s rebuke isn’t unexpected. But, Kyle isn’t done yet. He stands firm, and points to Drenar.
“Oh, really? You’re going to question us now?” Kyle’s feeling bold, which is rather pronounced, from what she knows of him.
"And vigilante behavior is the answer?” Her mother finally rises up from the table, and points to Drenar. “You risked yours, James's, Angela's, and Julia's lives during this stunt of yours, Drenar. You are lucky I'm not presiding over all of your funerals right about now." Her mother has all the appearance of a six foot and change raven with piercing blue eyes. "Give me one good reason why I would ever allow this, when I know for a mathematical certainty that this endeavor you’re about to go on will lead to your death.”
"I don’t know if you’ve noticed from your high perch, but the world is looking kind of crap-sack at the moment, Mom." It's Julia's turn to throw some accusations. "The Conclave has a possible hand in the attack against Trisha! SAF personnel might have been involved not in just that, but also the events of the past week, aiding the Talons. Including the security officer of Asqualia, who is now serving his preferred role as a corpse. Your neutrality on this matter, that the Valkyries don’t get involved in the course of human history, is a joke. If you don’t step in–if we don’t step in, things are going to get worse. Val might very well be the least of our worries. Also, King knows who you are, so that’s terrifying too.”
"I don't think you've earned that place to chastise me, Julia, but we'll get to that eventually. I was willing to entertain the notion you did the right thing for the wrong reasons before…but this?" She hates that her mother never allows herself to become emotional, because it made it that much harder to drive the point home. "The Valkyries are neutral."
"Yeah, that's working really well for us, isn't it? That neutrality of some of the greatest warriors and Arcanists on the planet, who sat back for a few hundred years, and continue to do so while our planet is rotting. Good for you on your neutrality and not making waves on human history!" James throws a biting 'thumbs up' at the end of his statement, and a grin that melts into contempt. "Some heroes you are."
Kiera doesn't even flinch. "You might not understand because you are young, and not rehearsed in mage history James, but there are reasons we keep our presence minimal. You can't run a world on heroes. So to speak," she adds with a dry tone. It mildly ruffled her feathers, Julia figures silently. "Now, would anyone else like to take a turn throwing some insults or critique? Because as far as I’m concerned, these exploits of yours, are the end of the road. You were all reckless. Every single one of you.”
“I disagree. Their combat prowess, while unrefined, shows immense potential. Drenar and James both show tactical acumen considering the numbers we faced, and our newfound allies from Asqualia proved why London still trains the best mages–not with book smarts or magical potential, but daring and innovation.” Levine still stands firm, and he’s still got that amazing poker face of being in tune with his emotions. “You’ve heard my thoughts on the matter, and you know where I stand on this.”
“Dillenger, I understand you and Nick’s reputation, and I appreciate the glowing assessment, but it is irrelevant. You, of all people, should have never let them attempt this. Or you, Nick,” she says with a bit of venom in her words. “Once we have things settled down, Drenar and Julia are going to be sitting this out–"
"Excuse me, lord and mighty queen of the Valkyries, but I think I'm gonna object to that!"
Everyone slowly turns their head to see Joey, who has sat quietly there at the table, but now she's hit her break point and is furious. There isn't a single person at the table who isn't stunned into silence. "You're not going to do that, because no one is going to let you do that. Starting with me."
"Miss Pyromist, correct?" Her mother hadn't called her by her first name, oddly enough. "Forgive me if I speak out of turn–"
"No. I will not forgive you for speaking out of turn."
Oh boy. Here we go. Here's where it gets crazy, and I was about two seconds too late to lay into mom. Julia sits silently while Joey looks to everyone around the table, before locking eyes with Kiera.
"Let me lay this out for you. Three hundred and fifty mercenaries laid siege to my home. Fifteen staff died, and more were injured. Shot, cut in half, burned to cinders, or worse. And where were the people that were supposed to keep one of the most secure facilities in the Arcanist world safe? Oh right, they were busy helping set the place to burn."
Her voice goes low for a minute. "Kyle and I lost friends, Kiera, at the hands and direction of a murderer who's trying to attain something as absurd as godhood or ultimate power. Reeves was cut down right in front of us, and Valosterla was laughing like some kind of lunatic. I couldn’t save him in time. The people that helped me and Kyle get as many of our staff out alive as possible, you know who they were?" She waves her hand around. "Misfits. Rogue SAF agents. Sons and daughters of the Valkyries. People who put themselves at grave risk for someone else, when the smart thing would have been to stay home, and leave it in the hands of the proper authority. Without them, I wouldn't be here to talk to you in person."
Kiera sits there for a minute, presumably to come up with a counterargument. "Those are all very good points, Miss Pyromist. And completely fly in the face of facts. Your actions also endangered the facility–"
"Oh don't you dare wave that horseshit here, Kiera," Levine snapped in possibly the first time she's heard him swear, and even Kiera is taken aback. "Josephine found the connection between the saboteur and the other actions of the Talons. They had one known operative and other suspected conspirators who had gone undetected for months. Joey and Kyle's sleuthing forced Valosterla to action before they were ready. Those efforts disrupted their attack timing, coupled with our team intercepting an early attempt to hold the teleportal platform. Even with their immense attack, we had an outfitted security team that bought time. We saved lives through close coordinated counterattacks and bottlenecking those mercs with the building's defenses. It's my professional opinion that, barring our intervention, everyone in Asqualia would be dead right now. You sound like Karen Aretemis, you know that?"
"Aren't you on the bench right now, Dillenger?" It’s almost a coy response, which got Julia's attention.
"I was, until I wasn't. Karen's resignation was hand delivered to me this morning. They're busy doing an internal audit with men and women I trust, and they're cleaning house right now. I’m still digging into Curtis, as well as Lavernius. King is a wild card that I do not know what his end game is, other than a strange notion that thinks he can be the hero out of this unprecedented crisis in the making. Sorry Joey. I didn't mean to take the spotlight." He nods at her firmly before taking a step back from the table.
"So, as I was saying, I'd be rotting at the bottom of the lake about now if Drenar and Julia and everyone else didn't show up." She stands up from the table, and points at Drenar. "There's one other thing you don't know. Kyle, you told me there’s one other override of the Glasgow accords.”
"Let me guess. It has something to do with that sword sitting by Drenar. You have not said one–" she stops, as if she recognizes it, and she inhales sharply. "That…that can't be right."
"You know whose sword that is. Don't you? Of course you would. You’ve seen it many times. Your daughter, Angela, and Drenar, all can hear crystalline chimes emanating from this relic. And you know why that might be." Joey has her full attention, now.
"It's a Valkyrie sword, and they do have their quirks at times–"
"It's not just a sword. It's Luminari. The fabled blade of the Valkyries, and one of the major symbols of the coat of arms of your armor." It's telling when even Kiera glances slowly at her shoulder patch. "Trisha Rashalda delivered this sword to the archives a year ago, Kiera. I spoke to her, even if I didn't know who she was at the time." Any chance at deflection is cut right out from beneath her. “She also said in a strange way that Luminari has an uncanny way to end up right where she was needed. Ever since that day, every time I walked into archives, I could hear her ringing. I know that now, ever since the attack."
This is the moment that broke Kiera in a subdued way, and the fact that the cinnamon flavored alchemist beat her to it, annoys Julia to no small extent. She knows why the artifact is calling out. "It's so bad out there Kiera, that the sword called out to me. Me. An alchemist who grew up in the middle of nowhere, in a town you can barely find on a map. Someone who isn't a hardened warrior, unafraid of the eldritch evils of the universe. And I don't know why, and I don't get how a sword that is associated as the core part of the sigil of the Valkyries would call out to someone like me, but I totally get why it would call out to those three.”
“And yet, you never took the blade for yourself. Why?”
Joey takes a deep breath. “Because prior to three days ago, I’d never had the courage necessary to do right by her. That changed when your daughter, and her friends showed up and got us out of an impossible situation. I was able to keep Drenar and Julia alive when they squared off against Valosterla. A monster that can take on even Valkyries, and survive.” Joey shakes her head, and points to the blade, still sitting idle.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Maybe you should take that as your sign that you underestimate your daughter and her friends, and why we're restarting the Luminaires. Because it is that bad. Crosomer has a head start with a crooked, multinational magitech company. Valosterla is one of its head executive officers, and a man like King working between them. They have thousands–hundreds of thousands of men on the payroll to pull a coup over successfully this time. The Conclave knows they can't stop that kind of steamroller. And, they have a device that could shatter the fundamental boundaries and barriers of our world. The Valkyries aren't going to win this alone, and the Conclave I can't count on at all. For a variety of reasons."
Julia can't help but silently applaud Joey–it took arrogance or foolishness to face down her mother, and she was neither of those. Joey looks like what courage she'd summoned up had run its course. Bravo, kid. Bravo. She might not show it, but you just won that conversation. She's hoping that someday she can tell when she's listening in, so she knows she isn't alone. “I know you’re feeling passionate about this, Josephine. I understand you’ve suffered immense personal loss–”
“No. I don’t think you get it. Trisha gave the sword to me, because she knew where it was needed. And you’re asking yourself right now, was Trisha wrong? Because if she was, then you have no idea how you’re going to solve this.” She knows her mother well enough when her eyes darken, and she taps at the table gently with her fingers. She can’t refute Joey’s logic. Or the way the blade lights up like a flare when Drenar or Angela hold it. And maybe her, too? "Kiera, we're doing this because if we don't, then Valosterla will choose violence at every turn, and sooner or later, she'll come after Drenar, or your daughter, or any one of us for daring to stand up against her.”
Her mother spends an awful long time in silence. This may be the first time in a long time that someone has bested her in a discussion. "You're children. This is not a game–"
"No, it's about people's lives, Kiera. We're restarting the Luminaires, whether you want us to or not, and there isn't a damn thing you can say to stop us. We're already past the point of no return, and you know that. If you think we're not ready, train us so we are. Sitting in a safehouse until this gets worse isn't the answer." Drenar takes his cue when Joey gives him a quick head tilt.
Kiera slowly rises from the table, and looks like she’s having a moment of contemplation. “Drenar, I need you to show me. I need to know my faith is not misplaced. Show me that the sword will answer your call.”
It’s like a switch gets flipped, and Drenar stands up from the table, and he takes the scabbard in hand slowly. All eyes are on the blade that gleams with a slight green glow that lights the large table, and Julia hears those now familiar crystal chimes of calm and comfort. Even now, after he explained what he and Joey had seen in that vision that seemed to split soul and body, she wonders what she will see if she one day picks it up.
She glances at the bandages still wrapped around her hands–the remnants of the serious mana burn she’d inflicted on herself. My whole body is a living weapon, if I choose to do so. So what’s a sword going to do? It’s not that I don’t know the basics, but Drenar and Angela truly know what they’re doing with that thing. And Joey does swing a staff hard enough to break bones even through magitech armor, but I don’t see her using an european broadsword, either. That part still puzzled her. Why did the sword call to her? To get our attention? Or is there more to her than she knows about herself? It’s a thought for another day.
Her mother stands there, hands limply at her side when she sees the glowing runes. “Trisha is going to kill me,” is about the first words she’s uttered in thirty seconds, and even that was a struggle for her. “Well old girl, looks like the Rashalda family line is taking you out for one more run, huh?”
“Convinced yet?” Kyle stated flatly with folded arms. “You know I read up on history, Kiera. What little I could that’s public record and not sitting in a vault in Valhalla. That blade is Valkyrian steel with an extremely unusual alchemical silver coating. The mana core inside it is immense. Almost like it’s a vessel. Do the souls of all those who have fallen in battle with her…end up with her?”
“Bertance, you know as much as me. Trisha never could tell me all of Luminari’s secrets, because she hadn’t figured them out herself yet. That blade saw action against some truly horrifying monsters of our world, and quelled the hatred in many others’ hearts.” She’s still in awe as Drenar gently places the sword back into the scabbard, and the demonstration has run its course. “So you really think you can do this, Drenar? Because I don’t want any of you coming home dead."
Drenar nods solemnly. “I have to. If we don’t put a stop to them, I don’t have the confidence that the Conclave will, or can. Because, if you’re right…the Conclave had a hand in the tragedy of six years ago. Which means I have a personal stake in finding justice." Seeing the tension on his limbs, isn’t something she expected to see in him so much. "I'm not delusional, I know I can't fight this alone, and I know more than a few people who've already told me they're in."
"Now I wonder who that could be," she mutters and peers at Julia, who grins unapologetically. "You know, this kind of suicide mission is typically more suited to people with a greater degree of training. I can still ground you, dear."
“Kiera, I'd set up a Pay-Per-View event for the fundraising effort of watching you try," Drenar says with just a beat of humor. "Alright, since you're here, this is my formal notice." He takes a deep breath, and speaks the words from the heart. "Per the Glasgow accords, Article four, Section fifteen, I invoke the right to reforge the Luminaires, due to the unforeseen and violent rise of the Onyx Talons and their leaders. They threaten to destabilize our world down to the bedrock and shatter what little privacy we have left in the Veil Protocol, and I will lead others to defend the defenseless. We will hunt down those who perverted justice, and make those responsible answer for their crimes against all Kin. Who will second me?”
“I will!” Julia stands up and places her hand on his shoulder firmly, and he glances over, his face starting to fill with confidence. “Sorry mom, you might still be able to put me on curfew and ground me for eternity, but I got a Siberian Hellkite to go hunt and a couple megalomaniacs to put in their place with butt kicking for justice.”
“Me three! Or something. Now it’s just gonna sound lame from here on out,” Angela said with a light flourish as she stood up and positions beside Drenar too.
“Hey, I’m not getting left out!” Joey fumes. “Besides, you three need some proper lessons on magecraft. And I need samples.”
“Oh Fates, you’re tagging along to use us as arcanist experiments?” Drenar groans. “Alex, you were right. I’m going to get immolated.” Joey smacks him playfully, and it’s almost adorable.
“Think these kids are going to need us old dogs?” Levine proposes amusedly to Nick, who lets out a soft grunt.
“Someone needs to temper them with patience and planning. We’re game, Kiera,” Nick adds a second later.
“Oh great, everyone is signing up for a suicide mission now? Well to hell with that, I’m not gonna be the last one on the bandwagon, not with this amateur engineer who desperately needs a tactical lead!” James states with determination, and he gets up from the table abruptly. “Sure, I can’t fight my way out of a paper bag, but I think you might learn some strategic pointers from me. Pro tip. If it’s more dangerous than Julia, run.”
“I’m in. Just give me caffeine, precious rare metals, and get my furnace in Asqualia up and running, and I’ll forge them the craziest magitech this side of the Veil. Also, no jokes on dwarves. I’m not that short,” Kyle says gruffly.
Friends, and newcomers alike, had rallied behind a common cause for justice and decency, and even Kiera is floored by the response. “Maybe this is a little too on-the-nose, but…I might have to make a guest appearance every now and then. Purely to check up on you Julia. And not, shall we say, break with the Valkyrian norms and go throw a beating at people who clearly deserve it.”
“Promise me you won’t nag me about my safety?” She’s hoping her mother will at least not hover over them. But, this is further than she ever expected to get, given her mother’s overbearing protection.
“Stick with the training,” Levine quips firmly. “You’ve got my word Kiera, they’ll be prepared by the best and brightest. And maybe, a few rounds on the Valkyrie training course would go a long way, too?”
“You were serious on that request, weren’t you?” she asks with a tinge of amusement.
“Oh if we're going on this madcap adventure, I think they’ll need to be pushed to their breaking point and more if we’re going against these fiends. I’d rather break them now and let them learn, then bring them home in…less than desirable shape.” Levine pushes the point gently, and her mother relents.
“Alright. But don’t expect me to go easy on any of them. If they’re not ready, I will pull the plug. And we need to keep this one close to the chest. I have some ideas on that.” Her mother is finally being sensible again, that certainly took long enough. Better late than never, she thinks as her mother rises once again. “Well now. I suppose congratulations are in order, seven recruits, and one steadfast teen wielding a sword that has developed a very odd taste in who it allows to wield it,” Kiera says with amusement. “As the current leader of the Valkyries, I recognize your authority, and will stand by this. Your code of conduct is yours to write, but I presume that given the company present, I don’t trust that’ll be an issue?”
“Moral compass, Kiera. Moral compass. We need to keep the high ground on this one, we’re eight people versus a merc band with the funding of a nation state, so we’re going to need all hands on deck for this one,” Drenar vows solemnly. “Uh, motivational speech time?”
“Nah, we can skip that part. Save it for when we start putting boots to backsides on these creeps and make them sweat a little?” Julia says with firmness.
There, in the fortress away from home, friends and newcomers made a pact to take the fight to the terrors of the mage world, and bring them to justice for their abhorrent actions. Julia had no idea where this would take them, but she knew one thing for certain:
The Luminaires would stand together, and live up to the legend of those who came before. Drenar smiles faintly. "Yeah. We'll save the speech for a win. Don't get cozy, guys. We need to get ready for the impossible."
----------------------------------------
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon!