Hands rolled her over and Aki gave her a weary smile. "Looks like you did it."
Eventually she worked enough saliva into her mouth to reply. "I wouldn't have been able to do anything if you didn't resist at the end there. What was that?"
"I have no idea. It was like I was on fire, but I wouldn't let myself burn away so I started burning along with it. Still the most horrible thing I've ever felt."
"Well, I'm glad you're okay."
"Me too." Aki went over backward and lay there for a while. After a moment she snickered. "Blake is unconscious, you're spent, and every time I think about magic I throw up in the back of my mouth. Some defenders we are."
"Maybe we're the kind that succeeded."
That was all she had to offer, and it was only a hope. Keisha drifted in and out of consciousness, made sleepy by exhaustion and the constant soft light from the sphere overhead. Dozens of unrelated thoughts drifted through her mind.
She was feeling only marginally better when something tore through the wall. Rising to a sitting position used up most of her stamina. Aki had crawled to her knees but didn't look much better. When Keisha saw who had arrived, her body felt like it was made of lead. If it had been the staff, she might have been able to stand to greet them, but now it took everything she had left not to collapse.
The attackers had broken through.
Chapter 19
All the men and women were Jotunn. They seemed taken off guard to find anyone in the room. Some began moving toward the Omphalos, but one of the leaders stopped them with a raised hand. Magical scans began to sweep the room, and if anything the intruders seemed shocked to discover there were only three students with almost no magical power among them.
"So who are you guys?" Aki sounded surprisingly cheerful giving their situation.
"The Sinistrals." As the leader said the words Keisha nearly collapsed again. Had they won the battle above or just broken through? Either way, their situation was hopeless. "What happened here?"
"That's kind of a funny story."
A woman pushed to the front of the group. "There's no time for this. If you have to interrogate them, do it while we pull out the Omphalos."
Another tearing sound announced a new entrance. The trickle of hope was enough for Keisha to turn her head. This time the identity of the intruders was obvious: all of them with red eyes and ridiculous cloaks like Reylin. As soon as they saw the Sinistrals they were hissing and readying vampire magic. Both groups were worn from their own battles and hesitated in attacking.
"I don't suppose we can compromise about this."
A vampire sneered. "There's only one Omphalos."
One of the Sinistrals stepped forward and raised his hands for quiet. "The Axis fighters will arrive too soon, even assuming one of us could win this battle quickly. What if we defeat them first and fight over it later?"
"Is that what you told everyone outside before abandoning them?"
Keisha listened to their conversation in dazed detachment. Neither side was likely to let them live, so their discussion was irrelevant to her. In a sense, they were doing her job for her by distracting one another. She felt like laughing but it would hurt too much.
A wave of silence rolled over the chamber. When it faded there was a man standing on top of the Omphalos. At first she thought he was Indian, yet she immediately second-guessed herself. His clothing was brown and simple. Everything about him seemed entirely normal until he moved.
Or rather, he didn't. One moment his arm was at his side and the next it was raised, scratching his head. It wasn't speed, he had simply cut between the two positions. He started walking down the side of the Omphalos and midway through a step was standing on the floor some distance away. Even after the initial magic had faded, both groups were silent.
"Two bold armies against the prize's erstwhile defenders." He was standing over Keisha, but as soon as he had passed judgment his blinking movements took him to Blake and Aki. "The mundane paragon, the boring shadow, and the usual routine. How delightful."
One of the vampires was attempting to push his comrades back. "We have to go. You have no idea the kind of shit he can-" The vampire exploded in a shower of daisies that drifted slowly in all directions. Everyone flinched.
"Language, language." The man's chiding was more distracted than anything else, as he stared upward. "I'd like to have the prize, you see, so it would be joyous if everyone were to leave me to it."
"We've failed." The leader of the Sinistrals gestured for the others to retreat and they looked eager to do so. For a moment Keisha wondered if they would end up being the only ones left with the insane man, but the vampires were holding their ground.
As the man walked toward the Omphalos, one of the vampire lords spoke up. "Enough of this. We have claimed that Omphalos in the name of the Coven."
The man stared at the group as if they were the most unbelievable thing he had ever seen. Abruptly he began to giggle, the sound becoming more high pitched as it continued. "You... all of you think you're vampires! You have capes! And fangs! I'll bet you drink blood and slink around in the shadows because you honestly believe it!"
"Enough!" Another vampire raised a hand and nothing happened. Keisha assumed he was trying to use vampire magic, yet she felt nothing from him. After a moment the vampire fell backward, which made the man giggle again.
That was the most disturbing ability so far. She knew it was possible to shut down certain kinds of magic if you were significantly better than your opponent. But the vampire's magic had never even begun. He hadn't fallen because of magic, it was pure shock.
A gunshot rang through the chamber. Keisha turned along with everyone else to see Mr. Hall standing at the edge, his gun in hand and a portal behind him. More faculty were emerging and one of the vampires sent a wave of magic toward the gate.
This time the gun made only a whispering sound. The vampire and his magic were gone.
"You've failed." Mr. Hall gestured toward the others with the barrel as he spoke. "Release your magic and surrender yourselves."
It looked like some of them wanted to argue, but just then Dehateh emerged from the portal. Something was emerging from her back, a ghostly torso that curved above her, bones glowing softly. Above the neck it was impossible to see if it had a face due to bright wings that curled together just above Dehateh.
At the sight of her the vampires became quiet, and more professors were coming through. All the professors she had seen in the battle emerged, worn but unharmed, their power palpable around them. Emile appeared as well, looking surprisingly normal in one of his usual sweaters and with no apparent magical power around him. That scarcely mattered since Gadril came after him, sword in hand. Though the blade seemed to be pale white, it was difficult to tell because the entire length was covered in blood.
Soon all the vampires were surrendering. Some protested that they deserved better treatment, their haughtiest tones unable to hide the fact that they were admitting their defeat. Mr. Hall turned his gun on the man in brown, who shook his head slowly.
"Pretentious, portentous." Then he was swept out in another wave of silence. The faculty didn't object and a few looked glad to see him go.
No one paid attention to the students until most of the vampires had been taken away. Pavel Tolstoy strolled through the portal, fishing in his shirt pocket for a cigarette. He took in the entire scene with half-lidded eyes and then walked to Aki and Keisha.
"Seeing you here is a pleasant surprise. I'm not fond of surprises."
"They must have been trying to take the Omphalos for themselves." Gastion swept up beside Pavel and glowered at them. "I think I know who put them up to it, too..."
"Does anyone here actually know anything?" Pavel glanced at Keisha from the corner of his eyes. "Don't bother answering, since I assume you would lie."
For a long moment Keisha held her breath. It was easy to imagine them being killed or imprisoned by their allies after succeeding at such cost. But then
she saw Doyle striding toward them and knew it would be alright. There was a bloody rip through his shirt as if he had been injured, though the skin underneath was whole.
"I'm responsible for this." He stood only a pace in front of Pavel, staring down at him. "If you scan the residue you'll see the remains of a lock I created. I sent them with it for added insurance."
"And why did you do that?"
"I was trying to undermine your authority, sir."
Pavel stared at him, then smiled. "You're alright, Kelly." The cigarette in his hand began to burn on its own.
"You're not even going to investigate them?" Gastion grabbed the front of Pavel's shirt and then quickly let go. "In case you haven't noticed, the Dark Essence is gone and one of our Darkness candidates is unconscious! This is obviously a planned effort against me."
"Drawde has evidence a student named Jaden stole it, which fits his profile. As for these three students, they've obviously performed at a level beyond that expected of first semester students in order to help defend the university." He stuck the cigarette in his mouth and walked away. "Someone put them in harder classes."
Since the dean had made his decision, the professors stopped watching and moved to help with the recovery. Keisha finally allowed herself to feel relief. It was easier after cool healing magic poured through her. The medics moved on to Aki, so Keisha climbed to her feet and stretched.
So it had turned out alright in the end. No one had taken the Omphalos and Axis University had proven it was more sane than many other organizations, if not entirely respectable. Doyle would clear up the story and there wouldn't be any punishment. She was even more sure there would be no reward, but being able to continue was good enough. If she kept moving, she would be able to keep learning, and maybe one day she would know enough to make a decision.
The only loose end was the Dark Essence Blake had taken. Though apparently his possession of it went unnoticed and technically he hadn't been the one to steal it, she wondered if he could really escape without consequences.
As she walked in his direction, she moved through the professors. Fragments of conversation reached her, but few of them registered. There had been more than enough input for one day. Still, one conversation took her attention forcibly.
"What about the Sinistrals?"
"We got a statement from a representative."
"You believe him?"
"He seemed to have no idea what happened. Apparently there was a splinter group convinced that every Omphalos is a prison for some kind of spirit and they had been talking about setting them free."
"Well, I guess the Sinistrals weren't the worst group to show up today."
She waited to hear if they would say more, but the conversation had moved on. The Sinistrals' excuse was obviously a lie, but she filed it away for when she had more sleep. When Keisha looked again where Blake had been she saw only Tierdrial moving toward her.
"It seems your interference was timely." That was the closest to a direct compliment Keisha had heard from Tierdrial, so she inclined her head appreciatively. "But I believe you will understand that what follows is only appropriate for Axis staff. I'm sending you back to the campus. Please recuperate in your room until we have time for you."
"I understand. Can you at least tell me how many casualties there were?"
"Few."
"I meant on all sides."
"The same answer suffices. Given the number of parties involved, very few were killed. Most had delusions of grandeur and retreated once they were bloodied." Tierdrial spoke lightly, but she made Keisha wonder what the definition of heavy casualties would be. "Because we did not enter until well after the initial clash, no staff died. Now off you go."
She was pushed back to the surface by forces she could not have resisted even if she had the strength to try. Keisha found herself near the plaza, in the middle of a disturbingly peaceful scene. Everything was exactly as it had been.
When she forced her battered senses to extend one more time, she saw that the same was not the case on a magical level. There was intense residue from the battle, but only because she knew exactly where to look. In a few places power seemed to have scorched through, leaving weakened points on the shielding surrounding the buildings. But even the advanced students might not notice anything had happened.
Apparently Tierdrial had transported Blake exactly as he was, since he was lying in the grass some distance away. Remembering that she had intended to talk with him, she headed in his direction. When she got closer, he opened one eye.
"Just how long have you been awake?"
"Short enough I missed your entire fight, long enough to have heard quite a bit."
Keisha nodded. "And you decided to stay unconscious so everyone would ignore your role in all this."
"Hopefully."
"I know your scheme now, Blake. You play the fool and pretend to possess only cheap power so that no one can take you seriously. Because if they're laughing at you, they can't be afraid."
He slowly stood up, his eyes focused on her the entire time. They were blue, yet she didn't doubt for a moment the depth of the Darkness within them. "And?"
"How many people have you killed?"
"Three." Blake let out his breath slowly and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know whether your ideals can accept me. If a man was threatening to kill your family, and the only way to stop him was to kill him, would you do it?"
"Yes, but I don't think that theoretical situation is very likely to-"
"What if the man was threatening someone else's family? Would you kill him then? What if there was going to be a war that could leave millions dead - if the deaths of a few people could limit or even stop that war, would it be worth it?"
When she stared at him he didn't turn away from her. There was a weariness in his eyes, and behind it a vulnerability she hadn't expected. Keisha realized that she wanted to find out what mattered to him and that she had no anger left. He must have realized it, because he gave a wry smile.
"So, Miss Warrior of Light, now that you know my evil plan are you going to try to kill me? I'm certainly helpless."
"If you keep taking Dark Essences away from people like Jaden, that's a kind of evil I can support." She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Besides, you play at evil far too ironically for me to be worried."
"You might regret not taking the chance one day, when I start killing civilians ironically."
"If that happens, I'll show up and say, 'Now I'm going to do what I should have done long ago' before drawing my sword."
"I'll try to get an outfit with more black spikes by then."
Without warning, Aki was between them, arms around their shoulders. "Is this banter I hear?"
Blake rolled his eyes. "Oh no, I could never put up with-"
"Too late, we're all friends now!"
Keisha shook her fist in mock rage. "We've been playing into her hands all along."
They watched one another in silence. Keisha had a single moment of vertigo, wondering how her life had taken her here, through everything, with so many questions still unanswered. It faded almost immediately and she realized she was smiling. Aki was grinning and Blake had a quiet smile that made it easy to forget his false persona. This would work.
When Aki began walking across the plaza they followed automatically. "This is going to make my life so much simpler. Next time we get some stupid mystery we can work together instead of doing everything separately."
"I, for one, would be happy if there was never a repeat of this."
"You sure you didn't enjoy it?" Blake raised an eyebrow.
"I would enjoy graduating without getting killed."
Aki glanced back at them. "Do you realize we haven't even finished our first semester?"
That was true. She didn't know if they could hide everything from the student body or how many advanced students had noticed. But she felt certain there would be classes on Monday and that meant they were headed for another wave of exams
and projects.
But for now it was the weekend. It wasn't even that late for a Friday night.
Epilogue
Yast Rsiln lifted the shears to make a small cut, but his hand was trembling so much he severed the entire branch. He forced himself to set the shears down before he did any more damage. There had been rage building inside him since he learned of the events at Axis University, and it seemed even his hobby could not calm him now.
The Sinistrals would largely avoid blame for the incident, especially since the vampire houses and even the Tortured Rose had participated in the assault. He would have to send some of his more idealistic members to protest something absurd for a time. Even if they had recovered by next year, the opportunity had been lost.
As he stared at his bonsai Yggdrasil, Rsiln began to frown. The branch he had accidentally severed was the one that represented the Sinistral realm. That was considered an ill omen in pruning lore, though he put little stock in such things. He remained disconcerted.
Irritably, he grabbed the branch and began preparing magic to fuse it onto the Yggdrasil.
"Isn't that cheating?"
For a moment Rsiln felt another surge of anger that one of his underlings would enter unannounced. Yet the voice did not sound like one of his people. "Do you have some business with me?"
"Consider me a fellow artist. My name is Laxir; perhaps you've heard of me?"
"I try to spend my time on less idle pursuits. This is merely a focus." He took up his shears again, only to have them removed from his hands. Laxir dangled them by one blade as he sat in the chair opposite Rsiln.
"So scornful! You're only another gardener, trying to shape the growth of reality." Laxir tossed the shears onto the table. "I find gardening rather boring."
"You are wasting my time."
Laxir ceased smiling and leaned forward. "I know what shape you want for reality. Rather flat, one might say."
Rsiln gripped his knees to keep his hands from clenching. Though it might be a lucky guess, his guest seemed too confident for that. "And what do you intend to do with this knowledge? You would not be the first to oppose us."