The pain when I awoke was less intense than I feared, but still bad enough to make me groan and grimace. “What…?”
“There you are,” Valuri’s voice called from somewhere. “You better wake the fuck the up, Jorem! You need to heal yourself!”
Darkness greeted my eyes when they finally fluttered back open, and until I spotted the moon hanging in the sky, I genuinely feared I might have gone blind. My right side burned like it was on fire, though when I clutched at the wound, I felt the warm stickiness of fresh blood.
“We are safe for the moment. My sister gave up the chase.”
I heard Kaseya before I saw her leaning over me. I had no idea where we were, though the scent of grass still flooded my nostrils. When I eventually mustered the strength to lean up, I saw the lights and towers of Highwind far in the distance.
“Well, shit,” I muttered.
“You’re lucky to be alive,” Valuri said, crouched beside Kaseya. “If not for Red here, you never would have made it this far.”
“Healing salve,” Kaseya explained, touching my forehead. “It stanched the bleeding, but it was not strong enough to mend the wound.”
Nodding, I took a deep breath and reached back out to the Aether. I tried to be careful, lest I trigger another backlash. I slowly mustered up enough energy for a healing spell, and when I touched my wound, the pain diminished almost instantly.
“You were right about Koth being a con artist,” I said. “I guess he was even better than you thought.”
Valuri grimaced as she squeezed my arm. “He wasn’t a real Senosi, but he’d obviously undergone a similar ritual. I can’t believe the Inquisitrix would give that kind of power to a man.”
“I can’t believe a lot of things right now. How the hell we’re still alive, for one.”
Kaseya touched my cheek. “I am sorry I could not protect you. This is my fault.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, believe me,” I assured her. “You were amazing. You both were.”
“Not amazing enough,” Valuri said, scowling in frustration. “I should have seen through Koth’s bullshit right away.”
“It doesn’t matter now. We’re alive—that’s what counts.”
She sighed and pursed her lips. “We’re about twenty miles out from the city. I know you need some rest, but if you’re up to it, I think it would be safer to get inside the walls if at all possible.”
“At least until the Headmistress realizes we do not have her cargo,” Kaseya said. “She does not strike me as the forgiving type.”
“This is all her fault,” Valuri said. “The Senosi obviously stole the cargo at the source, which means those mercs had already been compromised. Telanya was a fool to trust them. How the hell has she built an underworld empire making that kind of novice mistake?”
I wasn’t sure if it was the blood loss, the head wound, or just a random, well-timed epiphany, but the moment the words left Valuri’s mouth, the last piece of the puzzle finally clicked into place.
“We should get back to the city,” I said, leaning up. “Telanya still needs to know what happened.”
“You are certain?” Kaseya asked.
“Val is right—this fuckup was mostly her fault, and the bottom line is that we’re still going to need her help if we want to take down your sister and the Inquisitrix.”
Valuri nodded. “I imagine the crystals swung west through Ostvara. The Archmage has connections all over the region—maybe he can contact his allies there and try to intercept the shipment before it ends up on a ship.”
“Maybe,” I murmured. The fate of the vatari crystals was suddenly the last thing on my mind. “The healing magic is working. I just need some help getting up onto the horse.”
Kaseya frowned at me, clearly sensing my revelation. “There’s something else on your mind.”
“It’s just an idea I had,” I said, smiling. “It’s not fully formed yet, but it will be soon.”
“I know that look,” Valuri said. “And I don’t like it one bit.”
I touched her shoulder. “We’re going to skip Lord Martel and go straight to the source.”
“You want to walk up to the Archmage’s estate at this hour? I doubt his guards would even let us inside.”
“We don’t need the Archmage,” I said. “It’s time to cut through all the bullshit. I guarantee Silhouette will still be awake, and I’ll demand our long overdue meeting with the Black Mistress.”
Valuri’s eyes flicked back and forth across my face as she studied me. Even without the aid of a magical collar, she knew me well enough to recognize when I was plotting something. “You think Telanya’s more likely to be in her secret den at this hour?”
“Something like that,” I said. “Now come on—let’s get moving. We have some bad news to deliver.”
***
Midnight had long since come and gone by the time we entered the gates, and the city’s streets were quieter than I’d ever seen. We handed off our horses to Telanya’s people at the stable, then promptly veered toward Moonshadow Plaza. My side still ached like hell, and even with magic, I knew it would take days to fully heal. But I could walk just fine on my own now, and at the moment that was all that really mattered.
Thanks to all the brothels and taverns, the plaza was busier than almost anywhere else we crossed through. We maneuvered through the loose crowds to the Skittering Spider, and I searched in vain for an “old woman” reading people’s fortunes. I was a few seconds from giving up and busting in the door when I heard a voice behind me.
“You’ve certainly looked better. Trouble on the road, sweetheart?”
I glanced back over my shoulder and spotted a slender woman in Duskwatch Ranger garb lurking beneath the overhang of a boarded-up building. I could barely see anything beneath the thick cowl of her hood, but when I reached out to the Aether and concentrated, the illusion slowly began to fade away.
“Impersonating rangers now?” Valuri asked. “That seems dangerous. And pointless.”
“Dangerous things are fun, and fun things are never pointless.” Silhouette pulled back her hood and the illusion crumbled entirely. Other than her silver hair and supernaturally seductive smile, she suddenly looked like any other half-elven woman in the city. “Is there something I can do for you lovelies?”
“I think it’s finally time we meet your boss,” I said. “The situation with the Senosi is even worse than we thought. There’s a war coming, and if our people want to survive, we need to stick together.”
Silhouette glanced between us for a second before she smiled again. “The Mistress has been eager to meet you for a while. I suppose now is as good a time as any.”
She beckoned for us to follow. I fully expected her to lead us to a sewer grate or concealed cistern or somewhere else that was perfectly functional but almost laughably cliché. Instead she led us into the dark alley behind the Skittering Spider and brought us to an abrupt halt.
Valuri’s hands reflexively dropped to her crossbows as she studied the nearby rooftops. “Hell of a spot for an ambush.”
Silhouette turned and cocked a silver eyebrow. “If the Black Mistress wanted you dead, you never would have escaped the Gray Citadel. You just need to be patient.”
“Patient for what? I can see right through your illusions, you know—there’s nothing here.”
“Not all illusions are magic.”
As if on cue, the ground beneath our feet unexpectedly trembled. I threw out my arms to keep my balance, and Silhouette chuckled softly at our discomfort as the small, square piece of stone we were standing on began to sink underground. Vorsalos had plenty of lifts—they were necessary without the magical infrastructure of a proper Mage’s Guild—but I had never ridden one this fast, quiet, or perfectly concealed.
We descended into total darkness. Even without actively stretching out my senses, I could feel powerful Aetheric currents swirling around us. But when I tried to conjure flame into my palm, it extinguished almost immediately.
“The undercity is protected by numerous powerful enchantments,” Silhouette said when the lift came to a halt. “Even the Silver Fist cannot find us. Every time they send a search party, their knights become lost in an illusory labyrinth.”
“Good thing we’re not paladins,” Valuri said.
I heard her draw in a deep breath, and an instant later her eyes and tattoos began to glow brightly enough to pierce through the shadows. I could actually feel her feeding; she sucked in the magical currents like a living tornado sucking up water. For a few moments, my eyes could see just fine—we were standing inside a cavernous stone chamber with three distinct exits—but then the shadows promptly returned and swallowed everything.
“A dozen Senosi might be able to shatter our wards,” Silhouette said. “But a lone one will only earn herself a quick meal.”
A small luminous orb appeared in her palm, almost like she had plucked a mote of moonlight from the heavens. It only banished the shadows in a small area around us, but at least it was enough to see where we were going.
“Come,” she said, smiling again and beginning to walk. “We are almost there.”
I glanced back and forth at my companions, then followed in her wake. Kaseya looked as vigilant as ever, though somewhat surprisingly she seemed more intrigued than anything. Valuri, for her part, wasn’t amused at all. Here in the dim light, her glowing eyes and tattoos made her look more like a succubus than ever. But unlike in the Archmage’s estate where her hunger had taken over, something about these particular magical currents must have been unappetizing. I made a mental note to ask her about it later.
I heard the sound of voices and laughter a few minutes before Silhouette finally brought us to our destination. The instant we crossed beneath a bizarre archway, the veil of shadows surrounding us dissipated. We found ourselves standing on a walkway overlooking a huge, sprawling area that genuinely looked like someone had plucked out a piece of Highwind and plopped it down here. Hundreds if not thousands of people casually went about their business below as if we had just walked into a parallel version of the Moonshadow Plaza above.
“Some of the newer folks have taken to calling it ‘Darkwind,’ though that’s a touch ominous for my tastes,” Silhouette said as she leaned against the railing. “It is more of a safe haven—a place where people like us can gather without the condemnation of the Mage’s Guild or the judgment of the Council.”
“All of these people are sorcerers?” I asked breathlessly.
Silhouette chuckled. “No, of course not. Some are wizards who failed out of the Academy, while others are priests of gods that aren’t recognized by the Highwind elite. But most are simply outcasts. Half-orcs born after the Winter War two decades ago, dark elves who fled from the tyranny of the Spider Queen’s priestesses in the Underworld, Roskarim barbarians from beyond the White Ridge…” She grinned. “Some are even refugees from Vorsalos like yourselves. The only thing we all have in common is that Highwind doesn’t want us.”
“You are not describing the same city I heard about in Nol Krovos,” Kaseya said.
“When the Black Mistress arrived in here last year, she quickly realized that the truth of the city was far different than its mythos,” Silhouette said. “Highwind may be a beacon of light compared to Vorsalos or Falcon Ridge, but that doesn’t mean it is free of corruption. With a few exceptions, most of the city’s institutions have been rotting for a very long time. The War of the Three Cities may have ushered in an era of peace, but arrogance and complacency have wrought just as much damage as any band of orcs or gnolls. And I fear it’s about to get worse.”
“It is,” Valuri said gravely. “That’s why we need to speak with your mistress. Is Telanya normally up at this hour?”
Silhouette turned and cocked an eyebrow. “Telanya?”
Valuri snorted and crossed her arms. “There’s no reason to play coy anymore. We already figured it out. The Headmistress has been waging her own private war against the Inquisitrix, often without her husband’s knowledge. What better way to do that than to build her own little underworld empire?”
“Telanya isn’t the Black Mistress,” I said. The girls both turned to stare at me like I had gone crazy.
“What are you talking about?” Valuri asked. “We’ve been over this.”
“Yeah, and we were wrong,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Earlier, you said you didn’t understand how someone who had carved out her own underworld empire could have been outmaneuvered by the Senosi so easily. Telanya trusted foreign mercenaries like the Falcon Guard, assuming gold alone would ensure their allegiance. And worst of all, she didn’t secure her source of vatari at the source. Someone smart enough to build all of this wouldn’t make mistakes like that, but an arrogant, wealthy high elf who has never really gotten dirt on her hands might.”
Valuri shook her head. “But if it’s not Telanya, then who…?”
All three of us turned to look at Silhouette at the same time. The half-elf’s face remained completely impassive.
“‘I wear whatever face needs to be seen,’” I whispered. “That’s what you said to me before we left. I feel like an idiot for not recognizing it earlier. All the illusions, all the deception…and of course, you’re actually a sorceress. You have far more reason to need a refuge than a pampered woman like Telanya.”
Silhouette eyed me for several more seconds, and I started to wonder if I had just made another huge mistake. But then a knowing smile tugged at her lips, and she took a deep breath and stood up straight. Even though nothing about her physical appearance actually changed, the sudden shift in her body language was so pronounced that I could have sworn I was looking at a completely different woman.
“I had a feeling you were smarter than you looked, Jorem Farr,” the Black Mistress said. “And I know that you and I are going to accomplish great things together.”
