Web of Chaos - Chapter 22: Shattered

Ashur pushed open his office doors to reveal the familiar space beyond. Bookshelves lined three walls from floor to ceiling, and tall glass windows dominated the fourth, looking out over the Inner Sea. His wooden desk was gone, replaced by a stand that looked almost like an alter. Elise’s metal coffin rested on its surface, closed and opaque.

Several large metal cylinders sat beside the coffin, each one larger than a refrigerator. They’d done several trial runs already, and she knew each device contained a pocket space filled with Angelic mana. It was more power than Relia could use in a year, but her father was nothing if not prepared.

Ashur pressed his palm to the coffin, sending a small burst of his mana into a control panel. A pair of blue sigils glowed in response, and the surface became transparent.

Elise looked exactly as she had last time. Her face was calm and serene despite her lethal wounds. She still wore the same combat uniform she’d died in, torn and bloodied where Valeria’s claw had pierced her chest.

Relia made her way to the other side of the coffin, standing between two power sources.

“I’ll need to remove her from the temporal Construct,” Ashur said. “Every second matters after that. You should prepare yourself.”

Relia nodded and stretched out her hands to either side, pulling mana from each power source, filling her Aeon soul. She could technically convert any source of energy to Moonfire, but this was the quickest method by far.

With that done, she began cycling the mana in a Cloak technique. It felt different from her life mana—colder and sharper. While life mana flowed like a gentle river, Moonfire cut through her like twisting blades and icicles. Goosebumps covered her arms, and the hair stuck up on the back of her neck.

She cycled faster, staring down at her sister’s face, picturing her success in her mind’s eye. Her hands hovered above the coffin’s clear surface, ten inches from Elise’s soul. Relia still didn’t feel ready, but more time wouldn’t make a difference at this point.

“Now,” she told her father.

The lid vanished. Relia slammed her hands into Elise’s body and cycled the Moonfire directly into her soul.

One Cloak technique, two bodies.

She moved the mana through Elise’s channels as if they were an extension of her own. It filled her sister completely, from the crown of her head to the bottoms of her feet.

The damage was like nothing she’d ever felt before. Valeria’s claw had shredded Elise’s chest cavity, leaving a ragged hole where her heart should be. The dragon’s mana had burned away the surrounding tissues, dissolving them into a blackened mess.

Relia pushed more Moonfire into Elise’s soul, trying to shock it back to life. One spark, and her body would accept the Moonfire in earnest.

The science was hazy here, and her ancestors must have discovered this technique through trial and error. But one thing was clear: intention mattered more than raw strength. And this was where the Master realm would have helped. With a stronger mind, Relia could have seen her own thoughts and emotions with more clarity, weaving them seamlessly with her mana.

I train to do what’s right, she thought. Those words wouldn’t be enough, but they couldn’t hurt her chances.

The Angelic mana pooled around Elise’s soul, seeking the spark that would reignite it. But the mana kept slipping away, unable to take hold. It was like trying to fill a shattered glass with water. No matter how much she poured in, the water leaked out the sides.

“No!” Relia pulled more power from the surrounding sources. More mana than she’d ever  moved before. The room’s temperature plummeted, frost crystallizing on the sides of the coffin.

Each heartbeat stretched into an eternity as she watched the soul struggle with the Moonfire. Small threads of mana would catch for an instant before slipping away, like trying to thread a needle with trembling hands.

Sweat beaded on Relia’s forehead despite the cold. The lights went dark, and the wooden floorboards creaked and groaned as if bearing an impossible weight.

Come on, Relia thought. Come back to me.

Her sister’s body shone like a pale blue lantern. A living Apprentice would die from this much mana exposure.

For Elise, it still wasn’t enough.

“It’s not working.” Relia’s voice cracked as if she hadn’t spoken for hours. “I can’t hold her.”

Just then, she felt a strange pressure at the back of her mind. She barely had time to react before it shoved her consciousness aside. Somehow, her mana kept flowing on its own.

For one terrifying moment, Relia was a prisoner in her own skin. A passenger riding in the backseat of her own mind, watching her mana as if it belonged to a stranger.

What’s happening? she tried to ask, but her mouth wouldn’t obey her commands.

The presence moved with purpose, redirecting her mana with perfect precision.

Relia almost fought back on pure instinct, but no . . . this was good. The Angelic mana flowed even stronger than it had before, fueled by raw power and purpose. More importantly, she saw Elise’s body coming back together. Her heart reformed and pumped the blood through her veins. Her lungs filled with air, and color returned to her face.

Thank the Angels.

But something felt wrong. Her physical body was healing, but the mana had never taken hold in her soul.

Elise’s back arched off the table. Her fingers curled, and her eyelids snapped open.

No. Relia pushed back with all her mental might, shoving the foreign presence aside and seizing control of her mana once again.

Healing wasn’t the same as life.

The tension faded from Elise’s muscles, and she guttered out like a dying flame. Light faded to embers, and embers to ashes. Her body settled back in the coffin, still and cold. No pulse, no breath, no spark of life.

Relia staggered away, clutching her chest. The foreign presence retreated fully from her mind, leaving a vague sense of wrongness in its wake. It felt like stepping into her room and finding everything moved out of place.

Her legs buckled beneath her, and she slumped to the floor beside the coffin. Tears blurred her vision, and a sound escaped her throat—half scream, half sob.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a hoarse voice. Her head spun, and her heart thundered in her chest.

Her father stepped around the coffin, kneeling on the floor beside her. She didn’t look at his face, but she felt his grief like a tangible thing. She must have been going crazy, because she wasn’t a dream artist. She couldn’t really feel another person’s emotions.

Silence reigned for almost a full minute before Ashur found his voice. “This wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have advanced,” Relia said. “I should have—”

“It wouldn’t matter,” he interrupted. “I saw the whole thing from start to finish. You did your best, but her soul was never strong enough.”

Relia wiped at her eyes, but she still didn’t look at him. “We waited too long?”

“Apprentice souls don’t have enough mana,” he clarified. “I doubt even a Master’s soul could withstand that. I just didn’t realize the truth until now.”

“But Lyraina. I saw her . . . ”

No. Her grandmother hadn’t brought an ordinary Apprentice back from the dead. That man had been an Aeon. What if this didn’t work on mana artists at all?

All this time—all these months of constant training—and she’d never stood a chance.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Ashur repeated. “It was mine. I never should have asked you to do this. I’m sorry.”

Those last two words carried more genuine emotion than she’d heard from him in months. And of course, he was right. She couldn’t blame herself for failing an impossible task.

That realization should have made Relia feel better, but no amount of logic could fill the hole inside her.

~~~

The next few hours passed in a blur.

Space warped around them at some point, revealing a distant hilltop, miles away from Koreldon City. The evening air was cool against her tear-stained face, and the sunset painted the sky in bright shades of amber and violet.

Elise’s body lay on a simple stone platform surrounded by dried cedar and sage. The scent mingled with the sweet mountain air, so different from the city and the Palace Prime.

Ashur retrieved a fire rod from his pocket dimension and produced a small flame. He hesitated, glancing toward Relia. “Would you like to . . .”

She shook her head, never taking her eyes off her sister’s body.

He nodded and set the pyre ablaze. The flames spread through the wood, surrounding Elise in a bright orange ring. Relia and her father stood together in silence as the fire grew, smoke spiraling into the twilight sky.

Why was it so much worse this time? Elise had been dead since that fight with Valeria Zantano. Nothing had truly changed

And what about that strange presence that had seized control of her mana? It must have been some part of her subconscious, pushing her past her limits. Or maybe she’d just imagined the whole thing.

Angelic mana was still such a mystery, despite these weeks of constant practice.

They remained on that hill until the flames burned low and the stars shone in the darkening sky above. Finally, when only embers remained, Ashur opened another portal back to the Palace Prime.

Relia retreated to her room without a word. She stepped into her private shower and turned the water as hot as it would go. Steam filled the marble bathroom, and her tears mingled with the water as sobs wracked her body.

She emerged several hours later, wrapped in a plush white bathrobe. She’d spent too much time alone, and her thoughts kept going in circles like a fever dream.

If Elend were here, he would have known just the right thing to say, even if Relia wasn’t ready to hear it.

And Irina didn’t always understand people or say the right things, but she was always willing to listen. No topic was ever off limits, which was more than Relia could say for her biological mother.

If Glim were here, she would say something totally inappropriate, but at least it would distract Relia from her own thoughts.

And Kalden and Akari were the same way; they would always tell her when she was being stupid or overthinking things. Better yet, they’d tell her what crucial facts she was missing. The three of them saw the world in such different ways, and that made them a perfect team.

Relia wasn’t as close with Arturo or Zukan. Those two had disapproved of her aspect when they’d first joined the team, but they’d changed their minds as they got to know her better.

Something about that seemed to resonate with Relia’s soul, but she wasn’t in the mood for more training. For now, she just wanted to spend time with someone—anyone, really. She’d even settle for Ashur, or the palace staff.

Maybe her father would finally stop monologuing about his long-term goals and just talk to her like a normal person for once. Maybe the staff would see her grief and stop being so formal around her.

Instead, Relia found her mother, sitting on a sofa in the main living room. A familiar glass jar sat on the cushion beside her, with a squid-like creature floating inside.

Clara nodded toward her. “You’re up late.”

Relia glanced at the massive clock that hung over the fireplace. Was it really past midnight already?

“Yeah,” she said as she sat on the other side of the sofa. “I guess I am.” She pulled her knees to her chest, making herself smaller.

“What’s wrong?” Clara asked after a short pause. Ashur never told her about Elise, so she wouldn’t know about their failed resurrection attempt.

“Bad day,” Relia muttered.

Clara hummed in consideration and glanced down at the jar. “I have just the thing for that.” She must have already taken one, judging by the relaxed look on her face.

Her mother unscrewed the lid without asking. And just like last time, the flying squid ignored her and headed straight for Relia.

Relia almost raised a shield and knocked the thing away. She’d already refused her mother’s offer before, and some stubborn part of her clung to that choice with white knuckles.

But where had that stubborn streak gotten her?

Relia had resisted her father’s teaching for months. She’d thrown herself into her training, but she’d still failed to advance when it mattered most.

She’d clung to life for years, fighting a hopeless battle with her condition. But that stubbornness hadn’t saved her in the end. She was only alive right now because she’d finally listened to the Darklights and taken soulshine.

She’d spent the past few years holding back her death mana, not wanting to prove people right with their accusations. She’d tried to show mercy to her enemies, from the Martials on Arkala, to her peers in the Artegium.

But that mercy had almost gotten her killed countless times.

As for Elise . . . she would probably still be alive right now if Relia hadn’t recruited her during the qualifying rounds. Akari and Kalden had opposed that decision, but she hadn’t listened to them. She’d been so sure of herself. So sure that she knew the right choice.

No wonder her Master revelation had failed countless times. She tried to do the right thing, but she always seemed to do the exact opposite.

The squid-like creature latched onto Relia’s neck. Its touch was surprisingly tender, more like a kiss than a predator’s bite.

Finally, her body sank back into the cushions, and all her pain faded away.