Chapter List

ecilia Daichi had no idea where she was going or why. All she knew was that her friends were in trouble, and she didn’t know how to help them or even if she could help them. She ran and ran into the Gacenar night, her arms wrapped around her Lantern, passing through a sprawling stand of thin trees and scattered brush seemingly extending for miles in every direction. It was a crisp and chilly night, and Cici knew she couldn’t run for long.

She slowed down as she looked back several times to be sure nobody was chasing her. Then she began to walk. The glow of the Chronicler’s Lantern provided plenty of light and the sounds of katydids and crickets surrounded her. Overhead, the stars looked like fine grains of glowing sand scattered across still water. The moon had not yet risen, yet it was bright enough that the light of the Lantern was almost unnecessary.

“We have much to discuss,” a woman’s voice said. Cici froze. Standing there in the forest in front of Cici was the same robed woman from the dock. Cici was frightened, but tried her best to be brave.

“I know how to make lightning and you can’t hurt me!” Cici shouted. “I… I can make fire appear and stuff too!”

“What a worthy opponent,” Reina said.

“You better not follow me!” Cici said as she darted off in another direction. She ran and ran, hoping the robed woman would not be able to keep up. Her breathing was frantic and she was afraid she was being chased. She looked back as she ran further into the dark forest.

She did not see the gully.

Reina walked as quickly as she was able, using her staff to mark her steps. It was a painful affair, but she couldn’t take on other forms to perform this task. She was following a trail through the forest that only she could see. To the Vicereine, the astral echo of the Lantern looked like a long ghostly scarf floating in the air and winding through the trees. As she reached the spot where the trail seemed to disappear into the ground, she could hear the sound of Cici crying.

Cici lay face down in the damp leafy dirt. Her left shoulder was wedged under a fallen tree trunk, and her Lantern had landed out of her reach further up the steep side of the shallow muddy valley. Her ankle was already swelling. Cici was trying to stop crying, but every time she moved, her ankle hurt her more. She was stuck and afraid.

Reina stood at the edge of the gully and contemplated the torturous descent. Halfway down, a large fallen tree was supported on one side by the bank of the gully and on the other side by a tangle of other trees that had apparently been crushed by the first one. Unfortunately it would provide her no support in climbing down the grade.

The Chronicler’s Lantern lay on its side near Cici’s beret. It’s light reached far enough so Cici’s head and one arm could be seen. Reina concluded she had fallen down the side of the gully and slid under the tree. She could tell Cici was injured, but was too far away to see how serious it was.

Lacking time, the Vicereine of Kulnas made the decision to attempt a rescue on her own, something she was sure her Chamberlain and at least two dozen Kulnas nobles would have dispatched an armed company of infantry to prevent. Even navigating a few wooden steps was extraordinarily dangerous for Reina, as she did not have the strength or the reflexes to recover from even a slight loss of balance. If she slipped, the resulting injuries could be very serious.

Continue to Chapter Fourteen