Relia stood with her father in the Palace Prime’s medical wing. Dain’s body had been scattered across three separate gurneys, draped with white sheets. Crimson stains seeped through the fabric, and the scents of blood filled her nostrils.

  Her friends had changed so much. Relia had watched the footage from the guards’ body cams, and she’d seen the truth for herself. Kalden had actually while he fought Dain. It was like he couldn’t tell the difference between real battles and duels.

  Then there was Akari. Dain had just been following orders; he’d been sent there to her, not to kill her. That much should have been obvious in the way he fought. But Akari hadn’t shown the slightest restraint.

  She’d also killed Rosintar without warning. One minute, they’d been fighting side-by-side as allies. The next, a blade sprouted from the man’s windpipe like some grotesque flower. And to think, people were scared of Relia’s aspect. Even she couldn’t kill someone that fast. Especially not a Master like Rosintar.

  And what if Naomi Thorne hadn’t been bluffing? What if they’d actually killed Arturo and Zukan while she escaped? Would Akari sacrifice her teammates for that?

  Of course she would, and so would Kalden. Those two pursued victory at all costs. They had a grand plan to save their home, and that justified any action in their eyes. Just like Relia’s father and his divine mission to save Espiria. To them, people were just pieces on a game board, waiting to be moved.

  Footsteps echoed down the hallway behind them, and a woman burst through the doors of the medical wing. Her dark hair hung disheveled around her pale face, and she wore a simple white blouse with no jacket. Alana Nightfang, Dain’s ex-wife.

  Thorne and Knox moved to block her path, but Nightfang froze when she saw the covered gurneys. No one moved or spoke for several heartbeats.

  “It’s alright,” Ashur said to the guards. “Let her through.”

  Nightfang approached the first gurney, her steps slow and unsteady. Relia’s father gestured to one particular spot, and she pulled back the sheet to reveal her ex-husband’s face. Relia averted her eyes from the scene. She’d already watched Dain die on camera, and that was more than enough for one night.

  “Who did this?” Nightfang asked without looking up. Her voice sounded cold, with just a hint of a tremor.

  “The Soul Reapers,” her father said. “I sent your ex-husband to capture them, along with Agents Knox and Thorne.” He nodded back toward the other two Guards by the door.

  “Their real names?” Her voice was as flat as a crowns board.

  “We’re still investigating,” he said after a moment. “When we—”

  Nightfang's laugh cut him off, and the sound was like breaking glass. “I taught those kids, Ashur. I know exactly who they are. I just wanted to hear you tell the truth for once in your life.” She rubbed at her left eye, then waved at the air as if the answer didn’t matter. “Guess I’ll have to tell Aria she no longer has a father. That should be fun.”

  Relia winced at that. She’d always seen the Honor Guard as silent sentinels, especially Dain, who’d always been so stiff and reserved. It was easy to forget they had families of their own.

  The older woman looked up again, meeting Ashur’s eyes. “Why not release their descriptions? "Put their faces on every screen in the city. Wouldn't that make them easier to catch?"

  “I’m afraid that’s classified,” Ashur said.

  Nightfang nodded as if she'd expected nothing else. "Because you've decided they're too valuable to waste." Her gaze flicked to Relia. "Sounds familiar." Then she turned to face Knox and Thorne by the door. “How’d they do it? They’re still just Artisans, aren’t they? How’d they kill a Master with Eduardo’s training?”

  That question had been gnawing at Relia all night. Less than a year ago, she and her teammates had barely lasted three minutes again Valeria Zantano. Even blades of Angelic mana weren’t enough to finish the dragon.

  How had her friends gotten so powerful, so quickly? They’d obviously spent a fortune on weapons, but weapons could only take you so far in a battle like this. What mattered was the mind behind the blade, and Akari and Kalden moved like dancers who’d rehearsed their steps a hundred times. Their timing, their coordination . . . Relia wouldn’t believe it if she hadn’t seen it on camera.

  Footsteps echoed against the hard floor as Naomi Thorne stepped forward. “We’ve fought several Masters, but the Soul Reapers were worse.” She paused, glancing at Ashur for the space of a long breath. When he didn’t stop her, she continued, “Those two were .”

  ~~~

  Akari limped down the winding mountain street as the first rays of sunlight touched the eastern sky. Arturo favored his right leg as he walked beside her, while Zukan held up the rear, carrying Kalden in his thick arms.

  They’d made several desperate portal jumps after the battle, putting fifty miles between them and the Solidor’s safe house. They’d stopped in a forest clearing to treat Kalden’s wounds, but healing potions and bandages wouldn’t cut it. He needed a proper healer.

  A large wooden sign emerged from the roadside snow and evergreen brush. In giant gold letters, it read: "Welcome to Pine Hollow, Norria. Population: 553.”

  ? Had they really gone that far south? Just as well; the Honor Guard would be watching all the hospitals and clinics around the Solidor’s safe house. They might still have a trap waiting here, but they couldn’t afford any more delays. Akari’s mana was almost dry, and Kalden’s wound kept getting worse.

  Frost crunched beneath her boots with each step, and her breath emerged in puffs of silver mist. Pine Hollow spread below them in the valley, a collection of log cabins and stone buildings decorated with Midwinter lights. Colorful strands hung from eaves and wrapped around tree trunks, while longer spans stretched across the road like glowing bridges.

  “Hear anything yet?” she asked Arturo.

  “Nothing, shoka. Would’ve told you if I did.”

  Akari nodded as her feet carried her closer to the town. They’d used a burner phone to call the Darklights after the battle, but no one had picked up. Hardly a surprise; Elend and Irina were probably neck-deep in mana spawn right now. Either that, or they were catching up on sleep.

  Arturo’s family was equally unreachable, and Rosintar had betrayed them. That left her team with a short list of friends.

  The other cultists might have helped, but Akari had no way to contact them. Would there even be a cult after tonight? Could the Solidors even come back to this world without Rosintar’s help?

  “We should split up.” Akari shot a quick glance at Zukan. “We don’t wanna scare people.”

  The dragonborn nodded and carefully set Kalden down in the snow. Akari hurried to support his weight against her shoulder.

  “Speaking of which,” Arturo said. “You guys should probably veil your souls.”

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  Teenage Artisans were rare enough in the Artegium. Out here, they might as well be Masters. So Akari slowed her cycling and squeezed her soul tighter, letting out a faint trickle of her usual power. The effort was harder than it should have been—like trying to whisper when she wanted to scream.

  She fired a spacetime Missile toward a brick building in the town's center, then opened a portal in front of them. They stumbled into an alley that smelled of pine needles and wood smoke.

  “Okay,” she said in a shaky voice. “What are we looking for?” A chapel loomed above the other rooftops, along with another tall building that looked like the city hall. A few restaurants and coffee shops displayed prominent signs over their doors, but places were unmarked. Either that or the signs were too small to see from this distance.

  “Look for a sigil,” Kalden muttered in a low voice. “Universal medical symbol . . .”

  “Right.” Her left hand shook, and she shoved it in her pocket. Her other hand grabbed a handful of Kalden’s jacket and squeezed.

  “It’s okay,” Kalden said. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I know. It’s not that.”

  He paused for a second, considering. “Rosintar?”

  “Maybe.” Killing was easy in the heat of battle, especially when you had years of combat training. The hard part was living with the results—seeing the blood and the panic over and over in your mind’s eye.

  Rosintar had been their ally all year, teleporting them to the Solidor’s safe house whenever they needed it. He’d helped them escape Koreldon City with the dream tablets and quantum computer. He’d helped them escape the KCPD after they reaped the souls of their corrupt Artisans. He’d known all their secrets, and he could have betrayed them at any time.

  If they couldn’t trust him, then who could they trust? Who would betray them next? Arturo and Zukan? The Darklights.

  Akari would rather let herself get betrayed than go down that road. She and Kalden couldn’t do this alone.

  They stumbled around for five minutes before they finally found the clinic tucked away on a narrow side street behind the chapel. would it kill them to put up a sign? Koreldon City had dozens of signs pointing toward the hospitals, and even a well-trained cat could find its way there.

  The front door was made of heavy oak, with warm light glowing behind its frosted glass panels. Akari raised her free hand and knocked three times.

  “We’re closed!” a woman’s voice called from inside. “Come back at seven!”

  Akari knocked again, harder this time. “Can’t wait that long!”

  Footsteps echoed from the other side, followed by the sound of multiple locks clicking open. The door swung inward to reveal a middle-aged woman with graying hair tied back in a loose bun. She wore a simple white coat over her sweater and jeans.

  “What’s all this—“ She stopped short and took in their battered appearance. Then her expression shifted from annoyance to alarm. “Angels above! What happened to you?”

  The concern in her voice was so genuine that Akari almost blurted out the truth. Instead, she reached for the story they’d rehearsed “It’s my brother,” she said. “We were in the Hollows when some mana beast jumped us.”

  “?” the woman ushered them inside, voice rising with disbelief. “Where are your parents?” She shot one last look out the door as if she expected to see them in the parking lot. “Do they know about this?”

  A nervous laugh threatened to escape her mouth. No one had asked her that question since she’d reached the Artisan realm.

  “They know we’re here,” Kalden said. “But they’re fighting mana spawn in New Sakai. We tried calling but no one’s picking up.”

  A younger man stepped out from the back—probably the healer’s assistant. Together they guided Kalden to an exam table in a smaller room that smelled of antiseptic and restoration mana.

  They removed Kalden’s shirt and pressed their hands around his wound. Green mana flashed in the man’s hands, and his brows furrowed in confusion. “This looks like a Master-level technique.”

  “I’ve got the same result,” the woman said. “But that can’t be right.”

  “Oh.” Akari blinked, doing her best to look surprised. “Is that why the healing potions didn’t work on him?” She already knew the answer, of course: Master techniques had minds of their own, and they fought back against low-level healing techniques.

  The man glanced over at Akari, taking in the sight of her damp hair and clothing. “Where’d you say this happened?”

  “The Hollows,” she repeated.

  More questions followed, and Akari kept her answers as simple as possible. She and Kalden were students from Garriland University, and they’d taken this trip for Midwinter break. They were hunting mana beasts when they chased a lone frostwolf into a cave. That was when another creature jumped out from the darkness and attacked them. No, they hadn’t gotten a good look at it. And no, they couldn’t remember the way back to the cave. The forest was dark, and everything looked the same.

  The healers still seemed skeptical about their story. Apparently, “a mysterious mana beast” was a common scapegoat around here. More often than not, their patients didn’t want to admit they’d been fighting.

  Of course, those wounds weren’t filled with Master-level stone mana. The healers in Pine Hollow weren’t equipped to deal with that. They could stop Kalden’s bleeding, but only for the nest few hours.

  After that, they would need to get him to another Master.

  ~~~

  Akari curled up beside Kalden in their hotel room, listening to his steady breathing as he slept. Zukan watched the parking lot while Arturo hunched over his laptop, cycling through police frequencies.

  Everything seemed clear so far. Whatever Moonfire wanted, he must be keeping it to himself. Still . . . the silence felt wrong, like the calm before a storm. If the police weren’t coming for them, then who was?

  Akari snuggled closer to Kalden and forced herself to relax. Artisans could go for days without sleep if they had to, but sleep always helped. Things were crazy right now, and you never knew when—

  Someone knocked on the door, followed by a cheerful, feminine voice. “Housekeeping!”

  Kalden shifted in the bed beside her, instantly alert despite his injuries. Akari reached over and grabbed her glasses from the nightstand. Spacetime mana gathered in her in free hand as she prepared an escape portal.

  Zukan padded over to the door on silent feet and stared through the peephole. He reached over with a clawed hand and disabled Arturo’s sound suppressor.

  “What’s in the mirror?” the dragonborn rumbled in his gravelly voice.

  “A friend who can’t leave,” Elend’s voice replied from outside the door.

  The knot in Akari’s stomach loosened as Zukan undid the rest of the wards. The door swung open to reveal Elend and Irina, still wearing their battle-stained armor. Mud and sand caked their boots, and Elend had a fresh cut across his left cheek. Glim hovered over his shoulder in the form of a bright blue Missile.

  The trio hurried inside the room, and Zukan closed the door behind them, enabling the wards once again.

  Elend’s shoulders sagged with relief as he surveyed the room, taking in each of their faces. “We came as soon as we got your message.”

  “How’d you get away from the battle?” Kalden asked as he sat up.

  “Grandmaster Sterling made us a portal.” Irina sat on the bed behind Kalden, examining his wounds. Her Second Brain formed around her in the form of golden rings, spinning as she processed the damage.

  “Aye.” Elend gave a slow nod. “We’re deserters now, if you want to get technical”

  “I didn’t know that was an option,” Kalden said.

  “It was always an option,” he replied. “It’s just bloody inconvenient.”

  “What about your soul oaths?”

  “So far, we’ve only sworn to protect Espiria, not to obey its prime minister. And as long as Moonfire controls Storm’s Eye, he’s the biggest threat to this land.”

  “Shit.” Akari plopped down on the other bed. “Did we mess things up?”

  “That depends, lass. We can still move forward with the plan, but sooner is better.” He fixed them both with a look that seemed to pierce their souls. “How close are you to advancing? Your mana levels look good, but I can’t speak for the rest of you.”

  “I have all my techniques,” Kalden said. “I just need my revelation.”

  “Same,” Akari said. “I mean, almost. I’ve got my space and time Cloaks, but I still need to combine them into one. Assuming that can’t wait until I advance?”

  “It would be ideal if you combined them first,” Irina said. “Both Cloaks will become a single technique, and each technique is permanently etched on your soul. The earlier you finish it, the stronger it will be later on.”

  “Yeah.” Akari slumped her shoulders. “That’s what I thought.” Then again, she was still no closer to finding her revelation, so what difference did it make?

  “I can’t help with the revelations,” Elend said. “But we can fix your Cloak problem.”

  “Really?” Akari perked up at that. “How?”

  “Simple.” Elend strode over to the room’s window and peeked out the curtains. “We find a nice mountaintop, and we don’t come down until you’ve mastered the technique.”

  She blinked at him, at a loss for words. A training montage on top of a mountain? That sounded way too awesome to be real.

  Irina cleared her throat from the other side of the room. “That sounds like the best course of action. Akari learns best under pressure, and Kalden still needs time to recover. I’ll stay here and treat his wounds while you two train.”

  “I still haven’t slept since the attack,” Akari admitted. She wanted Elend’s help, but she also didn’t want to waste his time. Not to mention her own.

  “Even better,” Elend said with a cheerful voice.

  “But what if I can’t learn it today?” she asked.

  “It might take a few days.” Elend shrugged. “But so will Kalden’s healing. Do you have some other pressing appointment to get to?”

  “But . . . what about all those lectures you gave me last year? You said I was addicted to training. You said I’d burn myself out if I pushed too hard.”

  Elend laughed. “What’s the point of rest, lass? Why do we protect our minds, bodies, and souls so fiercely?”

  “I dunno . . . to recharge?”

  “Aye, but what’s the point of recharging? What’s it all for?”

  Akari closed her mouth. Several obvious answers sprang to mind, but she could tell when Elend was building up to something

  “We rest,” he said, “to prepare for moments like this. So that when the time comes, we can move worlds.”

  Web of Secrets Book 1 is now available for ebook, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited:

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