Epilogue

 

* Weaver’s Road *

In many ways it was a normal day in Weaver’s Road. The city was once again inundated with shoppers from all over the world looking for the newest fashions and best deals. Since the large open-air market and most of the stores were located near the main entrance on the west side, none of the visitors saw the major repairs happening at the northern and eastern walls, nor did they take notice of the purple-robed guardians patrolling the city and surrounding area.

True to their nature, the merchants of Weaver’s Road didn’t let a little thing like the city almost being destroyed dampen their desire to make a profit, so the events of the previous night were barely discussed in the market district. It was only in the taverns, inns, and residencies that people swapped whispered stories back and forth about the epic battle, the man calling himself Lord Davron, and the Daughter of the Sun. Rumors were flying, and it wouldn’t be long before the stories made their way out of the merchant city and around the world.

Fortunately, as Fantasma had predicted, there was no sign of Davron, his army, or the creatures of the Book of War, not just around Weaver’s Road, but his lookouts stationed at key cities around the world also reported that all was quiet. It seemed that Davron was not yet prepared to make his public debut. For the members of the Fantasmal Fighters, this meant a much-needed day of rest.

At the beginning of the day, some of the teens did little more than laze around the Stokenshire manor either chatting with friends, reading books, or using the melnet, a special quartz-based device that allowed people to watch pre-recorded entertainment from around the world. However, by midday, most were out and about. either in the city or traveling to other places and making the most of their day off.

Despite the long, taxing, and emotional events of the previous night, Jandor still woke early with the rise of sun. Perhaps it was the Fantasmal Signature that gave him extra stamina or the fact that it was just his nature, but Jandor’s first inclination when he woke was to do what he always did: go exercise and train.

Unsurprisingly, when he reached the large, walled-in courtyard of the Stokenshire manor, he found none other than Lori, practicing with her massive claymore. The two were truly kindred spirits in this regard, and soon they were sparring, which they did for several hours before grabbing something to eat. Afterwards, Alyson joined them, and the trio decided to make a day of sparring, practicing, and training.

“How do you swing that heavy sword around so effortlessly?” Alyson asked after one of her practice matches with Lori.

“Well, it’s a living weapon. Once it bonded wit’ me, it made it so that I wouldn’t feel it’s weight,” Lori explained. “I made it m’self.”

“Woah, really?” Alyson said in awe. “I thought only elves—well, I mean, uh, full elves—could make living weapons.” She gave the half-elf a sheepish look.

Lori, however, didn’t seem offended. “That’s just a myth. It’s just that elves don’t usually pass their knowledge to us half-breeds,” she said with a wink. “So, I taught m’self, with a lil’ help from a friend.”

“What’s a living weapon?” Jandor asked curiously.

“It’s a weapon that kind of has a will of its own,” Alyson explained. “Sort of like a quickener staff but different.”

Jandor shrugged at the comparison. “If you say so.”

Lori chuckled. “Basically, my sword’s like yer staff, mate.”

“My staff?” Jandor stared at the bo staff in confusion.

“Yeah, ain’t you ever thought it was weird how it behaves, almost like it’s tryin’ to protect ya?” she asked.

“Well, sure, I guess.” Jandor shrugged again. “Daniel said it had embedded mentus or something, so I just figured it was normal.”

“Nah mate, there’s somethin’ more goin’ on with that staff of yers. I’m betting it’s a living weapon too. Only thing is, there are only a handful of those that can be used by anyone without elven blood, and all of those are supposed to be really powerful.”

“Like the Thunderstrike,” Alyson added.

Jandor looked back and forth between the two girls. “Uh, so what does that mean?”

“Who knows. Maybe ya got a legendary class weapon, or maybe it’s just a fluke.” Lori chuckled. “All that matters is that it seems to like ya, so just stick to using it, I guess.”

Jandor was about to question her more, but another person interrupted them. “Mind if I join you guys?” It was Derrick. He was wearing his training clothes, the black band tied around his head.

Alyson eyed him curiously. “We’re fighting with weapons though.”

Derrick rolled his eyes. “I know; that’s the point. I want to get more practice fighting people with weapons. I have to hone my skills if I’m going to be of any use in battle.”

Alyson was about to protest again but Lori forestalled her. “Don’tcha worry weather girly. Your mate’s a master of Zormon. They’re techniques allow ‘em to fight against swords.”

Alyson still looked uncertain. “All right, but I still want to use coated blades, just in case.”

Derrick shrugged at this, but Lori nodded in agreement. “Probably best.” She ran a hand over her claymore and the blade became dull in an instant, mimicking a coated blade. “Alright band-boy, ya ready to get smacked around?”

Derrick smirked as he wrapped his gloved hands in pure mentus energy. “Bring it on.”

“I guess that just leaves me and you,” Jandor said to Alyson as he spun his staff menacingly.

“I’m going to beat you if it’s the last thing I do,” Alyson swore as she resummoned her mist blade and took a fighting stance.

With that, the foursome resumed their practice session which would last well into the afternoon. However, they weren’t the only ones training. In the courtyard of the former Banion estate, where Fantasma and his staff were staying, Wayne had been somewhat conscripted by the guardian trio of Alice, Pathos, and Karmandrian to start his mandamus training, though he was still very hesitant about it.

They’d given him a mandant-purple robe and silver belt, the customary garb of guardians, to wear over his regular clothing. Though the material was light and comfortable, he still felt ill at ease since he wasn’t sure he wanted to be officially seen as a guardian. Amber was lounging on the tall courthouse wall, observing with mild interest.

“Okay, how are we going to do this?” Wayne asked.

Alice looked around the massive courtyard, determining if there was anything valuable in it that could be destroyed by guardian level mandamus. Once she deemed it relatively safe, she turned back to Wayne. “Why don’t you just show us what you’re capable of first, and we’ll start from there.”

“All I really know is the wind command,” Wayne admitted. “Well, I’ve used healing mandamus too, and Franklin told me about how to use mentenus to tap into latent energy and create barriers, so I used that last night for the first time.”

Pathos nodded approvingly. “That’s actually pretty advanced. Why don’t you show us how you command wind, since you’re most comfortable with that?”

Wayne looked around for a target and decided on the large fruit tree in the middle of the courtyard. “Mittius Mandamus Wind.”

At his command, a strong gust of wind blew through the branches of the tree, causing it to sway.

“Not bad,” Karmandrian said. “Now, to get a more powerful effect, you need to focus your adimus energy when you’re saying the command, that way you—”

“Don’t teach him that,” came an exasperated voice.

Everyone turned to see Ace walking from the manor. His robe was mandant-purple just like the others, though his belt was white.

“Cal!” Alice lit up when she saw him. “I thought you were going to head out to Vinchu today?”

“I was hoping to speak with Fantasma first, but he’s not here. I saw you guys practicing, so I thought I’d come see you before I left.” He strolled up to Alice and the two shared a brief but meaningful kiss. “I’m glad I came out. You don’t want Wayne learning mandamus the way most people learn it; it’ll just hinder him. Powering standard mandamus with his own adimus energy is just going to burn through it quicker.”

“Well, I could see how you might think that, being a mandant,” Karmandrian said with a slight hint of indignation, “but Wayne is a guardian, like us, so his adimus pool is significantly larger than what you have.”

“I don’t disagree,” Ace nodded, “but rich people still shouldn’t waste money.”

“What?” Karmandrian gave him a confused look, but Ace had already moved over to Wayne.

“You’re lucky,” Ace told his friend. “You didn’t grow up learning mentus and mandamus, so you don’t have any of the bad habits that most Mendalians have.”

“Bad habits?” Karmandrian repeated shrilly but Alice shushed him.

“So, what do I do then?” Wayne asked skeptically.

“Mandamus is about commanding things to do what you want. You are the authority, so all you have to do is exercise that power. I’ll show you what I mean. First, drop the ‘mittius’ from your command just this once. You’re only using it because that’s what you’ve heard, but you don’t understand what it’s supposed to do yet. Mandamus means ‘to command,’ so technically that’s all you need to command the wind. I want you to use mandamus to make the wind blow hard enough to rip that tree from its roots and toss it like it’s nothing but a stick.”

Wayne raised an eyebrow at this. “Okay, how do I do that?”

“When you speak the command, visualize what you’re speaking to and what you want,” Ace explained.

“Well, that makes sense. Whenever I use wind, I’m visualizing what I want because I need to tell it wear to blow.”

Ace nodded. “Right, so the only thing you need to add is the realization that you are giving an order to something in this world. It must obey you, so you need to speak with authority, you don’t have to add any extra energy to it, just give the wind the order you want.”

This seemed to click with Wayne, and he nodded emphatically as he turned back to the tree. “Mandamus Wind!” he called loudly.

This time a torrent of powerful wind beat against the tree. Though its trunk was thick, it started to bend as the wind continued to blow, but it was not uprooted.

Wayne frowned. “Did I do it wrong?”

“No, that was pretty powerful,” Ace said. “The wind just isn’t strong enough on its own to accomplish what you want.”

“Right,” Karmandrian interrupted, “which is why at this point you need to add your own adimus energy—”

“No,” Ace stopped him, “that’s not it. Remember when I told you to drop mittius from the command? Now it’s time to bring it back. What you need to know is that the word mittius, just like all words in mandamus, has a specific meaning. It loosely translates to ‘by God’s authority’ or ‘by the will of the Heavens.’ Its real purpose is to borrow power from another source.”

“Another source?” Wayne repeated uncertain.

“You have to believe that you can call on the heavens to accomplish something that you can’t do with your own power,” Ace told him. “It’s basically a low-level boost of supernal energy.”

“So, it’s like a prayer? Like I’m praying to God to do something?” Wayne asked.

“No, not at all. You already have the authority; you just have to call on it. This is the true nature of mandamus. It was always seen as the last great gift from the heavens, a manifestation of the authority mankind has over the world at large, and in this case, the privilege of being able to tap into the power from the heavens to accomplish your will down here.”

“But…” Wayne said, grappling with this. “I mean, Ace, come on. You’re basically saying that God, or angels, or spirits or whatever are just going to do whatever I want because I order them to. That doesn’t sound right.”

Ace tried a different approach. “You’re looking at it like you’re asking for something you don’t already have. Think about it like this: it’s like money in your pocket versus a debit card.”

“What?”

“I know they don’t have debit cards here, but it’s the best example I can think of. You go to pay for something in a store, it cost a hundred dollars, but you only have twenty in your wallet. So, what do you do? You pull out your debit card, which is linked to your bank account, which has all your money. You always had the money, but the only way to access it is through the debit card.”

Wayne nodded slowly at the explanation. “So ‘mittius’ is the debit card, but where did all the money in the bank come from?”

“Inheritance?” Ace shrugged. “It’s yours without you having to do anything for it.”

“Do you know what a debit card is?” Pathos whispered to Alice as he listened to the explanation.

Alice shrugged. “No clue; it was rough when he explained it to me the first time, but Wayne seems to get it.”

Wayne did seem to finally understand. “So, this heavenly power I’m calling on, was already allocated to me. I’ve always had access to it.”

“Exactly. That’s the privilege of mandamus,” Ace said.

Wayne nodded, turned to the tree, and with a calm, clear voice spoke his command. “Mittius Mandamus Wind.”

Immediately the courtyard was filled with a spiraling vortex of wind so powerful that it knocked an unsuspecting Amber off the wall. It seemed near hurricane force as it crashed into the tree and flung it high into the sky.

“Holy moon,” Alice said as she watched the tree soar away. “I better stop that. Mittius Summonous Tree!”

Just as she said this, the tree halted in midair and then hurtled toward the ground as if the courtyard were a magnet drawing it in. With a resounding crash, it landed in the same spot it was uprooted from before toppling over sideways on the ground.

Ace clapped a hand on Wayne’s shoulder. “Good job. Most mandamus is based on that general principle. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to get bigger effects by pouring more of your own energy into it, at least not for standard mandamus. There are certain commands, like healing and some energy-based ones, that you have to power with your own adimus energy, but Alice can teach you more about the differences and how to make it all work.”

“Thanks Ace; that was really helpful,” Wayne said, feeling less apprehensive about mandamus training now. “One thing though. If mandamus is just commanding your environment, why can’t everyone do it? Why are there so few mandants in the world?”

Ace frowned at this. “I’ve wondered the same thing. I carried the seal for a long time, and I always asked questions like that. The only thing I ever got back that seemed like an answer was: ‘the heavens know in advance who’s ready to wield and who isn’t’ or something like that. It’s almost as if the only people who can use mandamus are the few who would have always believed they could, but to be honest, that sounds like circular logic to me.”

Wayne nodded in agreement. “Well, maybe it means that one day, everyone will have the ability to use mandamus, once people truly start to understand what it is.”

“It’s possible.” Ace shrugged.

“Mandamus has been around for over five thousand years, since the appointing of the first Fantasma,” Karmandrian countered. “I doubt understanding plays a part in it. Some people are just blessed with the gift.”

“Also possible,” Ace said with another shrug. “Well anyway, I should get going, but good luck with your training.” He gave Alice another kiss before shaking hands with the others and heading back to the manor.

Though the wall was a ten-foot drop, Amber had landed cat-like on the ground. She walked over to Wayne and the others as Ace left.

“Next time, warn me before you summon a hurricane,” she said with the usual sarcasm she reserved for Wayne as she brushed herself off.

Wayne responded by rubbing her sleek black hair affectionately. “You know, you could’ve gone with Ash and the others instead of hanging out here bored.”

 “I’m not a dog.” She slapped his hand away. “Also, I didn’t feel like having a girls’ shopping trip or whatever they’re doing. You and I already went shopping yesterday; that was enough. Besides, Mrs. Guardman might try to stick me in a dress.”

Wayne chuckled. “All right, I tell you what: after I finish here, we can grab something to eat and then head over to Salov’s shop. He said he was going in this afternoon, and he’d make a new hat for me.”

Amber smiled but then seemed to think better of it and just gave a noncommittal shrug. “Whatever, I’m just here because there’s nothing else to do. Let me know when you’re done, big brother,” she added in a sing-song voice before heading back to the wall.

Wayne shook his head with a smirk as he went back to training with the guardian trio.

In truth, Amber was glad to be able to hang out with Wayne, even if it was just watching him practice. On Earth, Ashley tended to monopolize most of Wayne’s attention. Though Amber wasn’t exactly jealous of this, she’d started to feel lonely in the last year after losing her mom. She wasn’t particularly good at making new friends, which left only Mrs. Guardman and Wayne to spend time with. Though Mrs. Guardman’s motherly ways were a comfort, she really wanted someone closer to her age to hang out with, and Wayne already understood her.

After rescuing her from the slavers, Wayne made a point of spending time with her, and she enjoyed the attention. So, when Ashley decided to go out shopping with Mrs. Guardman and some of the other girls from the group, she took the opportunity to hang out with her adopted brother. She knew that in the coming days, the usual dynamic would be restored, but at least for this day off, Ashley wasn’t nearly as clingy as she normally was.

This was mostly because of how comfortable Ashley felt in Weaver’s Road since she’d spent most of the past three days there and knew many people. She also knew that if she needed Wayne for any reason, she could call for him. The day stone he’d given her meant that they were always linked, and this gave her an extra bit of comfort as well.

After a late breakfast, Ashley went out to the market district with Mrs. Guardman, Stephanie, Terri, and Sherrilynn. Terri was the only one with an orcrus, so Wayne gave her a small amount of his own money to use for Ashley and his mother. The group of girls mostly window shopped, though they did buy a few new outfits for Stephanie, Sherrilynn, and Mrs. Guardman since none of them had any extra clothing.

“So, you’re telling me that people just wear the same clothes over and over?” Ashley asked, her tone a mixture of shock and disgust. A few people gave her a curious look at her outburst as the small group walked down the bustling market street.

Ashley had been with Salov ever since she’d been on Mendala, so she’d worn a new outfit every day without thinking about it, since he had an abundance of clothes. It came as a surprise to her when Stephanie mentioned that when she lived in Cirinian Valley, she only had one outfit.

Terri chuckled. “Well, not exactly. It’s only with clothing that’s made of ustus, because it doesn’t get soiled or torn or worn out in any way. It never needs to be cleaned. Pretty much every robe is made of almost pure ustus, so people typically have one that they wear every day.” She indicated her own green robe.

“I was wondering about that,” Mrs. Guardman said. “I noticed my robe never got dirty even when we were trekking through the mountains.”

“So, what about regular clothing?” Ashley asked.

“Well, that depends. Some clothes are made from ustus, and others aren’t,” Sherrilyn explained. “Ustus clothing is really expensive, like twenty times the cost, so most people have one or two outfits of pure or near-pure ustus and then the rest of their clothing is made from cheaper materials that have to be cleaned. Typically, if you work at a job that has a specific uniform that would be ustus too, so you only need one.”

Though the others didn’t realize it, Sherrilynn was very happy to be included in the group outing. Not only was she still in awe of the Daughter of the Sun, but she was glad that they considered her a part of their group, even though she hadn’t contributed much to their efforts.

“In the Order of Nature, they’re all about being as conservative as possible, so we only have one uniform that we wear all the time,” Stephanie explained as she swung her shopping bag. “I didn’t really mind, but it’s nice to go shopping and get some cute outfits.”

“So, wait, what about,” Ashley dropped her voice conspiratorially, “underwear?”

“All ustus, but we did have a few sets.” Stephanie chuckled as she saw Ashley grimace. “You get used to it; I swear.”

“It was the same way at Sunnin,” Sherrilynn added. “It’s a lot easier when you don’t have to constantly clean your clothes.”

“I guess, but I’m definitely not doing that. Besides, I like being able to wear a different pretty dress every day,” Ashley said as she did a playful spin to accentuate the light purple summer dress she was wearing. “Plus, Salov has a ton of clothes that fit me, so why let them go to waste.”

“It’s probably not that they fit you, it’s that he makes his clothing either partially or completely out of ustus. That dress is really high quality,” Terri revealed. “Ustus clothing can be adjusted by mentus to fit the wearer. He’s probably doing that before he gives them to you.”

Ashley frowned as she looked down at the simple sleeveless dress. Nothing about it screamed “high quality” to her. She assumed it was all just normal clothing, but it seemed this was another aspect in which the tailor was extremely generous. He’d let her wear whatever she wanted and never asked for money, even before he knew she was the Daughter of the Sun.

With this thought churning in the back of her head, she guided the group to the orphanage in the northeast sector. Fortunately, it was deep enough into the city that it suffered no damage from the previous night’s invasion.

“Oh Ashley, this place is gorgeous,” Mrs. Guardman said as they approached. “What a lovely home for the children to live in.”

The moment they entered, they were greeted by the sight of several children sitting in a circle, while a large, burly, red-headed man read them a book.

“And that’s when the brave warrior cut off the head of the beast and—well if it ain’t the lil’ missy!” Panson roared the moment he saw Ashley.

The children turned and beamed when they saw Ashley and three of them ran up to hug her.

“Hi Ms. Ashley,” they said in unison.

They were all around five or six years old and Ashley greeted them by rubbing their heads. “Hey you guys; is Mr. Panson reading you a scary story?”

“No!” said the only boy among the three. “It’s about this really cool warrior who fought monsters!”

Ashley gave Panson and incredulous look. “Really? Haven’t we had enough monsters?”

Panson shrugged. “What? You gotta feed their imagination so they can grow up to be brave fighters too, just like yer friends.”

“Ms. Ashley,” said one of the girls, “Mr. Panson said that you’re the Daughter of the Sun, is that true?”

“Yes it is.” Ashley nodded.

“That’s so cool. What does a Daughter of the Sun do?” she asked innocently.

Ashley chuckled at this. “Good question. I’m still figuring that out.”

“My mommy told me that the Daughter of the Sun helps everyone and always makes sure that people have everything they need,” the other girl said. “When I grow up, I want to be the Daughter of the Sun.”

“Sorry young’in, but ya gotta be born into it to do it,” Panson told her. “Plus, it’s a right big heap of responsibility.”

“Oh.” The young girl looked downcast.

Ashley knelt so she could address her. “That doesn’t matter. If you want to help people, you don’t have to have a fancy title, you can just do it.”

“So, I can help people, like you?” she asked.

“Of course, in fact, when you grow up, you can join the Sunnin Social System and help people all around the world, just like Sherrilynn here,” Ashley promised as she gestured to her companion.

This made the girl light up. “I’m going to do that,” she said excitedly before running off with the other children.

Sherrilynn observed the interaction with a troubled smile. “Your Grace—”

“Ashley,” she corrected, not wanting to be called that by her friends.

“Uh, of course. Well, are you sure you should have told her that?” Sherrilynn said quietly.

Ashley looked confused. “Told her what?”

“That she could join Sunnin,” Sherrilynn clarified.

“Yeah of course, why?”

“Well, it’s just that very few non-sisters are hired by Sunnin to do any of the major charity work. They’re usually only the education or support staff.”

“Non-sisters?” Ashley repeated the unfamiliar term.

Sherrilynn raised the hair off the back of her neck to reveal the sun-shaped birthmark.

“Oh! Wait what?” Ashley’s temporary revelation immediately reverted to confusion. “Why?”

Sherrilynn shrugged. “It’s just the way it is.”

“That’s dumb. Why turn away anyone who wants to help? The more the better, right?”

Sherrilynn shrugged again, not knowing what to say.

“Well, maybe you can change that,” Mrs. Guardman prompted.

“How? Oh!” Ashley’s expression turned pensive. “I never thought about it like that. Am I really going to take over that place one day?”

“Technically, you could do it now,” Sherrilynn said. “The Daughter of the Sun is automatically over the Sunnin Social System. The only reason it’s not that way now is because they’ve been missing for over a thousand years.”

Ashley felt a tightness in her chest as this realization washed over her. Being the Daughter of the Sun was far more than just a title. It came with a lot of responsibility: responsibility she didn’t think she was ready for. Did she want to take over the Sunnin Social System? What did she know about running an agency like that?

She’d announced herself to Weaver’s Road last night because Becky and Harsale had insisted that it was the best way to rally the troops to fight for their cause, but she hadn’t thought about the long-term consequences of stepping into the role. Fear and doubt crept in as she was reminded of Tabatha’s harsh words from the previous night:

“Do you really think you’re these people’s savior? Just because you got some orphans a place to stay, doesn’t mean you can fix the whole world. How are you going to stop the wars, end the famines, stop slavery, and force the hoarders to give to those who have nothing?”

She couldn’t do those things. She didn’t even know if she wanted to stay on Mendala, let alone be a major leader.

As if reading her frantic thoughts, Mrs. Guardman put a hand on her shoulder. “This is not something you have to decide on now,” she said softly. “You have time to think about how you step into your role. You may not get a choice about being the Daughter of the Sun, but you do get to choose what that means for you.”

Ashley smiled at this. She was right, she still had time to grow into this role and figure out what it meant for her, and she had a lot of people that she knew would help her. She rubbed the day stone absentmindedly between her fingers as she thought about this.