Page 155 of Vicious Is My Throne

“They never got the chance,” Tavion muttered behind me.

“I can actually see you.” Anaria squinted, reached toward the light, then tucked her hands behind her with a wry smile. “How is this possible?”

Bella grinned. “Trade secret, I’m afraid. We use smaller versions of these globes when we travel long distances, and this form of communication is faster than sending a raven. This is a bigger version, capable of higher magic.”

“What sort of higher magic?” Tavion asked roughly, his hand poised to drag Anaria away. “Is this…device dangerous?”

“Not at all.” Bella laughed, the sound dissonant like it echoed down a long hallway. “Though, after so many years of unuse, I’m surprised the mirrors are still working. My mother happened to hear your voices and notice our globe glowing, which is stored in the High Priestess’s meeting chamber.”

“How secure is this?” I asked, leaning forward until my cheek brushed Anaria’s. “Can anyone hear what we are saying?” Because if that globe became another thing for the Oracle to use against us, I’d shut this down right now.

“Only the people standing in that room and my mother and myself.”

Vesper leaned into the picture, and Anaria grinned and waved. “Hi, Vesper. It’s so good to see you.” Vesper tipped her head solemnly before Bella came back into view.

“We’ve heard some disturbing reports that the wall separating Varitus fell. That was you, I take it?”

Anaria nodded. “That was most definitely us. But maybe I’d better start at the beginning. A lot has happened since we left Stormfall.” Anaria explained everything. About killing the Shadow King and Trubahn and finding the weapon. The blight and losing the Fae magic to the Oracle.

While they talked, Tavion went back to pacing the circumference of the small, rounded room, Zor blocking the doorway with his wings. Tristan crouched down, inspecting the clear glass pillar. Bexley stayed out of the way, pressed against the wall.

“You found the Aetherial?” Bella leaned forward far enough her nose flattened against the other side of the globe. “We’ve only ever heard stories…You truly have the knife?”

“The box is upstairs, but I’ll bring it down and show you.” Anaria grinned. “But we have both pieces. The knife came from Mysthaven, and the amulet we recovered from Trubahn’s.” She caught my eye and I shook my head. No sense in going into that whole story right now. Not when time was so precious.

“Bella, I have…witch magic too. Enough to wield the knife. We have everything to stop Corvus, but we’re running out of time. We know Blackcastle is already lost…”

“But it’s not. The blight stopped spreading the moment you dropped the wall. We got a raven from Torin who reported…Corvus changed focus entirely when the ward fell. He headed west and abandoned Blackcastle. The blight stops short of the city.”

I swore the air inside the room lightened.

“Good,” Zor muttered, raking his hand over his shorn head. “That’s good.”

“Unless the Oracle makes good on her promise to burn the city down. We need to distract her. Only long enough for us to get to Corvus’s cave.” There was a slight tremble beneath Anaria’s brave words, and I gripped her hand and squeezed.

“What can we do to help?” Bella asked. “You’ll have to cross the Pale, but our ravens—the few that have returned—report the Hammer is completely overtaken by blight. You won’t be able to get close, not on foot.” Her eyes narrowed. “And you’ll have to be close in order to use the weapon.”

“We need to slow the Oracle down,” I growled. “A distraction to draw her attention elsewhere. Give us time to get into position.” A day of travel, I estimated, then another day to climb to that cave cut halfway up the side of the mountain.

“We’ll see what we can do.” Bella’s face hardened. “You said she’s heading for Blackcastle? Half the city’s been evacuated, but there are still a few stragglers.”

Zor stepped into sight and Bella’s eyebrows rose, even Vesper looking shocked as they took in his wings rustling slightly as he crossed his arms. “What I wouldn’t give for a safe house right about now,” Zor muttered. “Close enough for us to easily fly to the Hammer in less than an hour, but somewhere hidden from Corvus and Gelvira.”

Shadowy Bella and shadowy Vesper traded a look. “There is such a place. Though no one has been there in thousands of years. A northern watchtower, once manned by our fiercest warriors to sound the alert whenever the Mystara stirred in their cave, so we could make preparations for war.”

“Is it still there?” Anaria asked breathlessly. “Because that sounds perfect.”

Shadows moved on the other side of the globe, Bella and Vesper holding one of their silent conferences before the High Priestess nodded.

“The tower was built by the conclave so long ago, no one alive has ever been, but it’s east of the Ironhearts, situated at the very edge of the Pale, and nothing can breach those walls.”

Someone handed her something, and she peered at it for a moment before setting it down in front of her with a metallic clink. “The council agrees, by blood this belongs to you, Anaria.”

Bella pushed a key onto the surface in front of her, and within seconds, that same key appeared on the smooth crystal top of the pedestal. “Because of your witch blood you’ll be able to penetrate the ward, but we don’t know what you’ll find or if the tower still stands.”

Anaria hesitated then picked up the key, an ethereal silver glow gilding the dark iron forged into an intricate design resembling intertwined vines and arcane symbols.

“But Darkspire is as close to the Hammer as the witches ever dared get.”

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