The Restored: Chapter Forty-Four

As the crystal splintered up into the sky, I saw Archmage Davalier stagger back, and I raised my gun. I still had one bullet left. The strange northern man glanced around, then raised his hand. 

“My deal done. Helped stop Thrones. Politics… You sort out on own.” 

Blue light rushed from his fingers, and an instant later, a shimmering portal of light opened into an area that I thought looked to be the Fae Sovereignties, though I wasn’t entirely sure. The scent of crisp autumnal leaves, stewed apples, and roasting squash drifted through the portal, and the man stepped in

“What was that?” I wondered, not really expecting an answer. I was surprised to get one, as Archmage Davalier limped toward me. Her left arm was a mangled mess, and I wasn’t sure even immediate attention from a healer would be enough to save it now.

“I believe the Ligature negotiated for the Silver Storm Lord’s help,” the woman said. “That faerie’s fought for them on their behalf before. I don’t know what contract they’ve got standing with him, but I’ll be sure to at least send whatever ligature members are still alive.”

I’d been under the impression the man was a human, not a fae, but… he had been strange, and he’d known Hadiya, a ranking member of the Ligature. Maybe I’d just received the wrong impression? I figured that a human would generally try to stay and help, even if only to get some glory and recognition. 

I banished the thoughts from my mind and mumbled something about that being a good idea. Archmage Davalier nodded her agreement, then looked up at the sky, where the Malapert had exploded. 

A small grin spread across her face. She managed to wipe it away in a few seconds, but I saw it, and my hand tightened around the smooth wood grip of my gun, though I kept it lowered. I spoke levelly, keeping my voice even. 

“With the Overriding Judiciary Council, Prime Minister, Senate Lead Organizer, and Parliament Chairman all dead, you’re now in charge of the entire city, at least temporarily,” I said, not wanting to flat out state Nexus’ name. I wasn’t entirely sure if Davalier knew who I was, nor how she’d react to the information I knew about her. “After all, they, and a bunch of C-suite executives all lived  on that ship.” 

“It’s true,” Davalier said. “A few other of Nexus’ members may have survived. But in effect, as Consulate Archmage, I have emergency powers over the city.” 

So, she either knew I’d been tangled up with Nexus’ business, or didn’t care if I knew about it. 

“Do you plan to take credit for the banishment spell, like you did for my kids and me taking down Alyphize?”

Archmage Davalier turned and studied me, her eyes raking me up and down, focusing on my gun, and then the sundered Throne sitting behind me. They darted to the sky, and she spoke carefully and quietly. 

“I do apologize for that, but you’re going to have to understand. In the middle of a city-wide battle, where everyone is fighting for their own survival, it’s far more frightening if the massive attack that destroyed a Throne came from unknown forces than from the Consulate Archmage.” 

“I understand,” I agreed. “But I don’t think it does for getting rid of all the demons in the city.” 

I glanced up at the massive pillar of crystal. I couldn’t prove it, but it had to be the work of Hadiya, or maybe Jessica. They were the only mages I knew of who would have the kind of magical skill to throw something like this together in the middle of what was, effectively, an active war zone. 

“I agree. I think I’m going to pin that on Elucidate Labs. Whoever I push into the next Nexus position should thank me for the massive boost to their public relations.”

Archmage Davalier spoke candidly, as if there was nothing strange at all about using the destruction of her own city for furthering political goals and public perception of companies she had large investment shares in. 

“The Prime Minister election was only eight months ago, and I’m technically in that position right now, with full emergency powers. I think I’m going to keep it the remaining year and a half, and use it to launch for re-election. Stability, or something like that. There aren’t that many archmages in the city, and it’s not like the Concrete Crown would ever be able to take an official government position. You can be the new Consulate Archmage.” 

She said it like it was a massive honor to be able to take over a massive government position without even being elected in, and to be able to manipulate the city at my whim, and I visibly bristled at it. She rolled her eyes at me and sighed. 

“Oh, grow up. You’ll be able to use the position to become worth millions of thin-panes, and you’ll be able to dictate a huge amount of the city’s policies around magic. It’s not like most of Nexus will work to stop you, as long as you run it by them and it’s not interfering with their businesses. The Chairman, Organizer, and I can pass essentially anything you want by just putting it further up our dockets. You should be honored – money, power, and privilege, all as repayment for helping Elderglass in our hours of need. Even if you suck at the job or don’t enjoy doing it, just don’t get too many sponsors for re-election, and let the rest of Nexus figure out a good replacement for you. You’ll still be rich.” 

“No,” I said, my grip on my gun loosening to allow for a more accurate shot, as I prepared myself for a fight, despite my aura being pitifully low. “I’m not going to allow it. The world is already messed up enough, the last thing we need is using this as an excuse to solidify more power in Nexus’ hands. We need to put it more in the power of the people.” 

Archmage Davalier turned to me, a dangerous glint in her eyes. There weren’t people around, not this close to ground zero, where the Throne had emerged and the demons had poured out. As best I could tell, there wouldn’t be a single living soul anywhere on the entire block. She could kill me, and get away with it. It could be chalked up to me taking a fatal wound in my duel with the Arenamaster, and nobody would be any the wiser.

But she wasn’t a fool. The moment I detected so much as a whisper of air currents, I’d raise my gun and fire. Her wind and sound was powerful, but she had to be almost as drained as I was, and I doubted she was confident in killing me before I could strike. At the same time, I couldn’t be confident in gunning her down before she could fire off a windblade right at my neck. 

“Are you certain you won’t take a position in my world?” Davalier asked, her voice quiet and flinty. 

“Are you sure you won’t let the people’s power remain vested in the people?” I asked, my own voice equally tense. 

The wind spiked. I whipped my gun up, prepared to fire, but before I could, a spell slammed into the archmage’s back. Her wind spell, whatever it had been, fell apart, even as long, claw-like constructs of force drove through her back and out of her chest. She gasped and her eyes went wide. Her aura lit around her, and flickered wildly for a moment as she tried to shape it into a spell. 

She failed, and an instant later, she let out a rattling death knell. Her body collapsed, and I was left staring at her corpse, stunned. I followed the line where the spell had come from, and my mouth hung open. 

“Jessica?” 

My sister lowered her hand, the wand that she’d been holding dropping to the floor. I didn’t have my metal sensory spell up, so I couldn’t be entirely sure, but the thing looked like a piece of rebar. Had she crafted it in the middle of the battle?

Jessica let out a laugh, a sound of sheer relief at having lived through this crazy day, and ran forward, wrapping me in a hug. She pulled me tight, squeezing and crushing me, and I dropped my gun and hugged back, even as I groaned at the aches and bruises I had all over my body. She was alive, and at that moment, that was one of the only things that mattered. 

We released one another after a long moment, and I began to babble. 

“Where’s your husband? How’s the fifth of the city you were protecting? What happened? Can you help me find my kids and Rhys?” 

At the same time, Jessica began to ask questions of her own. Our words mixed together, and neither one of us managed to make out what the other one was saying. Before either one of us managed to get enough words out to properly speak to one another, however, there was the distinctive sound of a portal opening. 

Kelly, Jin, and Devi all stumbled through, looking around the sight of the battle with wide eyed uncertainty, their eyes darting from place to place with seemingly no understanding of what had happened. 

I let out a sigh of relief and then rushed over to meet them, moving as fast as I could. Now that the energy of battle, and the afterglow of living was starting to fade, the aches and pains across my body, the bruises and scrapes and fractures, were starting to get so much worse. I was fairly confident that it looked more like a hobble than it did a sprint, but Kelly ran over to meet me. I pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing as tight as I could, and actually lifted him off the floor slightly. The boy needed to eat more.

I set him down, and noticed Jin and Devi standing awkwardly, hand in hand. I pulled both of them into a hug as well, pulling one arm over each of them and squeezing tight. Jin hugged back uncertainly, still not used to affection of any sort. Devi stiffened, the hug probably pushing against her independent streak, but after a a long, lingering second, she hugged me back too. 

“I’m so glad that you all are alive. I was… well, I won’t lie, when the Malapert blew up, I was worried you’d decided to blow yourself up to take out Nexus, Devi.” 

“I’m not that dumb,” she said, and I felt a wet stain from where Jin was. A moment later both of the girls pulled back, and we all sat there in silence for a moment, everyone just glad that everyone else had survived. I was glad, but a part of my mind was focused on Rhys and Hadiya, hoping that they were fine. 

Devi was the first one to break the silence, pointing up at the towering crystalline structure. 

“Fallen Void, what even is that?” 

I turned and looked up at the massive spire, scratching my head. 

“Aura crystal?” I guessed. “I mean. That’s what was there originally, but there’s more of it now.” 

I glanced at Jessica, who shrugged.

“I mean, it looks like it. But I don’t know how it grew, or why. Or really anything about it. That should break the laws of physics as I understand them – once an aura crystal is mined or removed from the vat, it can’t be grown any more.” 

“I think we can explain that one,” Hadiya’s voice called out. I looked up to see her, one hand wrapped around Rhys’ shoulders for balance, while using what looked like a massively overgrown nail, head under her shoulder, to act as a makeshift crutch to support her other shoulder.