Book 4: Web of Aeons

Elend trudged through the snow, on his way to another secret meeting.

Lena Cavaco walked beside him, shivering in her sleeveless white blouse. He’d offered her his jacket a few minutes ago, but she’d refused, claiming that her Aeon powers could warm her muscles. Clearly, those powers had gotten rusty in Cadria’s tropical climate, and it certainly didn’t help that she’d arrived here by portal.

A night wind blew through the forest clearing, pulling snowflakes from the pine trees and tossing them against his face. Lena pulled her arms tighter across her chest, struggling to maintain her composure.

Elend grinned as he removed his jacket. “You’ve never been to Espiria, have you?”

“I’ve been to your continent,” Lena said. “But I’ve never had business this far north.”

“I’m flattered.” He placed the jacket over her bare shoulders, and she accepted it without complaint this time. Technically, he could have made her a jacket from dream mana, but he’d always preferred this old-fashioned gesture.

Eventually, they reached the barn at the back of his property—the same place where he’d interrogated Kalden’s brother a few days before. Elend pressed his thumb to the lock, letting it read his personal mana signature. The door clicked open, and he let Lena go first. Warm air blasted from the ceiling vents, and she sighed with relief as they stepped inside.

Elend conjured a pair of leather armchairs with a wooden table between them. Another burst of dream mana, and two steaming mugs of hot chocolate appeared on the table.

Lena sat down and raised her thin eyebrows at the sight. “I thought you didn’t do food, Espirian?”

“Hot chocolate is easy enough. Simple flavor, simple texture. I learned to make it for Irina when we were dating.” Elend lowered himself into the other chair, resting his ankle on his knee. “Just don’t ask me for marshmallows. Mine always taste like fluff candy or packing nuts, depending on my mood.”

“Hot chocolate made of dream mana . . .” Lena sipped her drink and gave an appreciative smile. “I’d imagine this would cost me ten times more than the real thing.”

“Aye.” Elend threw a pure Missile at the table, wrapped it around his own mug, and pulled it back to his outstretched hand. “Who doesn’t like chocolate with zero calories?” He blew on his mug and sipped the steaming brown liquid. Now that they’d settled in, he steered the conversation back on topic. “I don’t like manipulating my students.”

“I know,” she replied. “But we can’t be straightforward with Miss Zeller. Once she knows the win conditions, she’ll turn this into a game. The Solidors won’t fall for it.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So, you watched Akari on TV for a few hours, and now you think you understand her?”

Lena held his gaze. “Am I wrong, Espirian?”

“As if you’re not playing games with me right now,” Elend countered. “The Solidors need Akari.”

“No,” she said. “They need a Spacetime Artist.”

“Right. Last I checked, she was the only one of those in town. And by ‘town’, I do mean the whole bloody planet.”

“For now.” Lena reached into her bag and retrieved a cream-colored envelope. She pulled a few papers from the top and slid them across the table.

Elend glanced down. “What are these?”

“Those are a few of the Solidors’ other candidates.”

He furrowed his brow as he read. They’d blacked out parts to protect the candidates’ identities, but one thing was clear: all these people planned to become Spacetime Artists within the next year.

Elend scanned the papers for a few more seconds, then he waved a dismissive hand. “Aye, the vultures swarm in whenever someone invents a new aspect. They’ll be cheap copies of Akari at best.”

“That’s only true in the short term,” Lena said. “The Solidors have already waited decades for the perfect candidate. They’re prepared to wait a few decades more if they must.”

Damnit. She wasn’t bluffing. Elend’s hands began to sweat despite his confident facade. A part of him had expected smooth sailing once Akari aspected her mana. He understood their need for caution, but this?

“What’s this really about?” he asked.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“I was honest with you before,” Lena said. “The Solidors already had their reservations about Miss Zeller, and your school games didn’t help matters.”

“Aye,” Elend said. “But there’s something else. I don’t need dream mana to see that.”

Lena gathered up her papers and returned them to the envelope. “We know about the island.”

Elend’s heart beat faster, but he reined it back in and forced himself to sound mildly curious. “Island?”

“The Archipelago,” she clarified. “The sect that disappeared, and the thousands of people who lost their memories. My patrons have known about it for some time now—even before they met Sozen Trengsen. They only shared it with me a few days ago.”

“Ah, so you’re talking about Sozen’s home?”

Her lips curled upward as she sipped her drink again. “They know you took a boat off the coast of Vaslana last year. A few months later, you find yourself shipwrecked in Creta. Not only are you wearing cuffs of Etherite, but you’re traveling with Sozen’s brother, and the Cliftons’ daughter.” She paused. “Are Mazren and Emeri still alive?”

Elend recognized the trap and took a mental step back. It had been years since he’d discussed this with anyone but his wife and students. He’d made an honest effort with his colleagues at one point, but they’d accused him of being a conspiracy theorist.

Now, this hardly seemed like Elend’s secret to share. He might have discovered the Archipelago, but Akari and Kalden had actually escaped it. They were the ones who might get sent back if something went wrong. Then again, the Solidors had clearly gathered enough evidence on their own, and Kalden had even confessed a few things to his brother. Elend also needed their help to turn his students into Aeons. Sharing information would open more doors, while lying would get him nowhere.

“Akari’s father is alive,” he said. “And he’s still back on the island. Her mother was murdered shortly after she arrived there.”

Lena gave a slow nod. “So it’s true, then. Even the strongest Mana Artists can lose their powers there.”

“It would appear that way.” He leaned forward. “What else have your patrons learned?”

“Not much more, I’m afraid. They sent a team to investigate last year, but they only found rubble.”

“The rubble is an illusion,” Elend said. “Some Mystic-level technique I never figured out.”

“Or the rubble is real,” Lena said, “while the islands exist in a different dimension.”

He hadn’t considered that before, but the idea might have merit. As a Dream Artist, every problem looked like an illusion to Elend, the same way a man with a hammer saw nails everywhere he looked.

“Either way,” he said, “there’s a peninsula on the northwestern side of Arkala. The entrance is there, just beyond the beach.”

“Yes, they found the remains of your campsite, but no entrance. They even brought a Knowledge Artist of your caliber to investigate.”

Damnit, he should have expected that. But if the Martials or their benefactors could hide the entrance, then why hadn’t they done so before? It wasn’t like they wanted visitors. Perhaps it took an enormous amount of effort, and Elend’s antics last year had pushed them over the edge.

Speaking of their benefactors . . .

“I don’t suppose you know who did all this?” Elend asked.

“No,” Lena said with a quick shake of her head. “But we have more spies within the Sons of Talek. That group has a few theories.”

His eyebrows shot up at that. The Sons of Talek had been Elend’s primary suspects until now. Ashur Moonfire was a member, and he’d been involved in Last Haven’s destruction.

“Several of their high-ranking members have vanished,” Lena said, “along with all records and memories of their existence. If anything, they’ve lost more people than us.”

“Curious,” Elend said. “And these people are in the Archipelago right now?”

“No one knows. Some have regained their lost memories, like you, but that’s been the extent of their investigation. We suspect they’re afraid to dig too deep.”

Clearly, these disappearances were more widespread than he’d assumed. But this didn’t rule out someone from the Sons of Talek. Especially if this Mystic was banishing traitors from his own organization.

Elend raised his cup to his lips. “You said they have some theories?”

Lena drew in a long breath and seemed to find a sudden interest in her mug. “Miss Zeller has drawn a great deal of attention in their ranks, especially after she fought off those assassination attempts.”

“What?” Elend would have spit out his drink if not for his impeccable self-control. “They think Akari did this?”

She spread out her hands. “The phrase ‘time travel’ has come up more than once.”

“Time travel,” Elend deadpanned.

She nodded. “Along with parallel dimensions.”

“So, they think this was Akari from the future? Or a different version of her?”

“Miss Zeller is the world’s first Spacetime Artist. And we’ve seen evidence that points to her aspect’s involvement.”

“Such as?”

“The Archipelago likely exists in a different dimension from our own. Then there’s the matter of the missing memories and records. No mere Knowledge Artist could have done this. Not even a Mystic.”

“Unlike a Spacetime Mystic merging two dimensions,” Elend said. “That’s completely reasonable, right?”

“There’s never been a Spacetime Mystic before,” Lena said. “We don’t know what’s possible and what isn’t.”

“Well, time travel is mathematically impossible, so we can safely rule that out. Unless our world exists in a pocket dimension. In that case, all science goes out the window.” Elend rubbed at his temple. “How serious is this theory?”

“We don’t know,” Lena said. “Our enemies know we need a Spacetime Artist, and they probably know about our spies. They could have planted these rumors to thwart us.”

Elend had been thinking the same thing, so at least they were on the same page.

“However,” Lena said. “If we make Akari Zeller an Aeon, we’d be handing her the keys to limitless power. My patrons won’t make that decision lightly.”

Elend scratched the stubble on his chin, staring down the long corridor with its two rows of metal doors. Deep down, Akari was actually a sweet girl, but he couldn’t deny this logic.

“She’s still a serious candidate,” Lena said. “And that’s why I’m here.” She spread out her hands again. “You’re her teacher, of course. This was my plan, but the decision is yours.”

“I’d still prefer to tell her the truth,” Elend said.

Lena raised her eyebrows. “I’ve told you everything I know, Espirian. Do you honestly believe that would work?”

No. And that was the worst part about all of this. Elend could see all the scenarios play out in his mind’s eye, and only one path led to victory.

Lena nodded as if he’d conceded the point aloud. “Ask yourself this. What if Miss Zeller had all the information you have right now? What path would she choose for herself?”

Once again, the answer was clear. Akari would do almost anything for more power.

Unfortunately, that was the problem.