Page 31 of Bright Soul

Until a decision was made, we were all very careful not to mention the ocean gate when Wren had the stream rolling. We didn’t want the mer to catch wind of it and shut it down.

I still thought the unnatural hunters were incredibly stupid to chase imaginary clout competing for a prize they might not escape the pocket dimension to see. My stay in Cerris City had made me a pessimist, sure as anything.

Tish bounced in her chair with an excited coo. “A hundred-dollar donation,” she gasped, and Wren forced a big smile and thanked the generous soul.

I exchanged a glance with Cress, sure we were beyond the place where money could help, yet the stream donations were flowing in the absence of anything else from the outside world.

The only thing that might shift the landscape of the war we were in was more power…something we would experiment with tonight.

CRESS

Ben’s father chose a good day to visit him, as our fights ended with Leona calling for a break in a breakdown of frustration. A corrupted dimensional used its magic to teleport away once we opened his containment room, a flub Wren caught on camera. I felt for Leona, who took the embarrassment personally, as she’d overlooked this ability of his while briefing us.

It was our first true failure in a long string of successful fights, and she wasn’t the only one carrying the weight of defeat. Wren shut off the stream with a quick fumble when Leona began to yell and Jonah rushed over to talk her down. “It’s been a really stressful time. We just need a rest,” he said.

It gave us a chance to slip away that evening without being questioned. I met Wren, Jordan, and Ben in Braza’s chamber. Jordan carried a bag to this meeting and began pulling out ritual implements while I went up to the powercore.

I reached for it, and Braza reached back, pulling me into the inner chamber of the powercore, where she stood in her dimensional form. She was made of the same purple and black material as the sphere we stood within, as the powercore was her soul and this space was where she could manifest as a shadow of herself.

I drew her into a hug and held her slightly squishy self, letting her snuggle close to my warmth. She was petite compared to Phaeron, about as tall as I was, with forward-facing horns and bat wings.

“Do you think this ritual is going to work?” I asked her.

Despite how young and soft her features were, she answered with the same air of wisdom as always. “It is a gamble and a guess, as it was to put your family’s whole might into your handbook. The side effects of that decision have led to a leakage of light into your librarian affinity already. Perhaps the ritual will bolster you and Ben and somehow you will both become hybrid witches in a world that’s never seen the like.”

Jordan and Wren, both more experienced in this kind of ritual, thought that would happen too. “I’m just worried it will go all wrong,” I admitted.

She blew out a sigh and took hold of my shoulders with a serious expression. “The worst is still possible, brightest of souls. Most who choose one path and are given an ancestral magic of another do not get to choose both because one never answers to their will. And there are books recording the celestial attunement ritual stripping potential hybrids of their non-celestial affinity. That is a trauma that can damage you down to your soul.”

“I remember you mentioning that when my mother’s ghost wanted to give me everything directly,” I said, biting my lip on a surge of nerves.

“Unlike that situation, I believe you should still attempt the ritual. Your magicfeelsdifferent, and your anam cara will be taking the same risk as you. If ever there was a setup for successful hybrid witches, it is this.” Her hold dropped to my hands, and we both squeezed. “If you remain a librarian witch at all, I have a proposition for you.”

“Oh?”

She nodded, releasing me and inclining one horn toward where I’d left my friends. “Your ritual awaits. I shall tell you later,” she said.

With one reassuring look, I stepped out of the powercore. I’d learned that Braza was lonely in her afterlife, and I meant to visit with her like that more. While we’d been talking, Jordan had drawn runes in chalk, with three large circles forming a triangle around the outside.

“Over here, dear,” Jordan said, pointing with the nub of chalk toward an empty circle.

Wren and Ben were sitting cross-legged in two of the three large circles, leaving me the third. I settled there and took in the markings in the array. The likeness of the sun and its rays formed some of the runes around my spot, connecting to the moon phases circling Wren and the constellations around Ben. Herbs dusted an offering bowl in the center, along with an unlit candle and three of Ben’s smaller throwing daggers.

“You good?” Wren asked, raising a brow my way.

“Just getting some reassurance that this might work for Ben and me,” I answered honestly, and she gave a little shrug of acknowledgment.

“It’s going to work,” Ben said without a moment of hesitation.

Jordan took a moment to confirm one more time that we wanted to do this before lighting the candle with a stray match. We let Wren speak the Latin incantation for us. Wewere seeking alignment outside of the new moon, when trios of celestial witches were supposed to meet and perform this ritual. To successfully align, we had to shed a few drops of blood in offering while stating the proper words.

According to Jordan, it was completely normal and even common to align when the moon wasn’t new in modern times, when it was difficult to sit in a circle under the stars with your two witchy besties with how busy our lives could get. I still had my heart in my throat when Wren went first and pricked her thumb, muttering over the bowl as the crimson drops fell. “Lunae maiestas.” Majesty of the moon.

Ben was next, his confidence starting to show its cracks as he blew out an unsteady breath. He added his blood to the bowl. “Magicae stellae,” he said. Magic of the stars.

They turned to me expectantly as I lifted the last clean blade and poised my hand over the bowl. My fingers were shaking. In two simple words and a few drops of blood, we’d see how this ritual would end up working for us. I drew a steading breath and poked my thumb. “Potentia solis.” Power of the sun.

What I’d already harnessed with the Sun Surge I’d cast from Evening Guidance. The same light I held each time I cast Lux and Luminaire. The kind of heat I felt mounting in my chest as Wren seized my hand and I fumbled for Ben’s as I started to sweat.

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