Page 57 of Requiem of Silence

“But didn’t you banish all the spirits the Physicks allowed in?”

“The seal between the worlds was already weak; they cracked it open. Otherwise, Mooriah would not be here, either. The door has been opened, we wait now only for someone with ill intent to take advantage of that.”

“That has already begun.” Mooriah stepped to his side. “It is why I brought them here to train.”

“But why was Tana bound? And who did it? Someone like you?” Kyara was still trying to wrap her mind around it all.

“Yes, it was one of my fellow observers, no doubt,” Fenix replied. “We are meant to monitor only and not get involved, however, when one of us senses something catastrophic approaching—thecreation and existence of one of your kind can be felt by us—then in order to stop tragedy, we bind the child. However, it does not last forever.” His expression was apologetic.

Like Tana, her power had expressed at age eleven. What would it have been like if the bindings were permanent? Would she still be in the harem? One of theul-nedrimguards keeping the women and girls safe?

“I can unbind the girl,” Fenix said. He looked to Ella, who had an arm around each of her daughters and was dodging an overeager puppy tongue. “It will not cause her any harm or pain.”

Ella’s eyes were wide. She hadn’t spoken at all during Fenix’s revelations, but appeared just as struck by them as the rest. Tana eyed the puppy suspiciously, but was otherwise impassive; a lifetime of disappointments had likely made the girl wary of hope. Kyara understood the feeling.

“As long as she isn’t harmed,” Ella said. “It’s what she came here for.”

Kyara nodded at Fenix. “Fine, then. Do it.”

He bowed respectfully, and perhaps a bit amused, before approaching Tana. He knelt before her and inclined his head. “May I hold your hand, please?”

Tana held out a trembling hand. Fenix smiled and it was beatific, a glorious beaming that brought to mind calm blue skies and warm spring days. “Best close your eyes.”

She did so and at first nothing happened. Kyara held her breath, waiting, hoping she hadn’t made a mistake in supporting this. Then Tana began to glow. Ella startled, her grip on Tana’s shoulder tightening. But almost as soon as the glow hit her skin, it was gone.

Tana’s eyes grew big when she opened them. A huge smile filled her face. “I feel it,” she said excitedly. “It’s like… I’m notquite sure what it’s like, but it’s wonderful!” Her breathing had sped up as her excitement increased.

Kyara used her other sight to sense the girl’s Nether. The bright glow of the Nethersinger shone in the darkness. But shockingly, it was growing stronger and stronger. Tana was drawing death energy into herself rapidly.

Where was it coming from? She shuttered her sight, watching for the reaction of the others, before sinking into it again, realizing that she could sense Fenix and he was quite odd. He didn’t have the bright light of death energy of an adult, nor was he nearly invisible to her like a powerful Earthsinger. He was… normal. Just as he’d been in real life, fully visible.

He smiled at her, noting her shock. She wasn’t quite sure how to react. But then Tana pulled even more Nethersong into herself, capturing Kyara’s attention again. “Tana! Don’t draw it all in at once.” She could sense the girl’s lack of control, she just couldn’t figure out where the death energy was coming from or what the effect would be.

“She’s drawing it from everywhere in small amounts, equally distributed throughout her range.” Fenix answered her unspoken thought. “Every living thing around her will lose a small amount of Nethersong.”

“And then be filled with the Void?”

He nodded. “But being so small, their own life energy will eventually replace it. They will be healthier and stronger for it.”

That was possible? Why hadn’t she ever thought of it before? “She’s still taking on too much, too fast.” What would she do with it all? Especially having never learned even a modicum of control. “Tana, stop!”

Then Mooriah was there, bright as the sun in her other sight.The woman approached Tana and it looked as though their lights merged. The shining star that Tana had become dimmed as fast as it had grown, transforming back to something more like normal.

The girl was just a girl, with a tiny amount of Nether, and she was breathing heavily. Using her regular sight again, Kyara watched her try to catch her breath. Mooriah stood next to her, swaying gently. She met Kyara’s gaze with an expression of slight exasperation, which somehow made everything better.

Tana grinned like she’d just won a race. “I like it!” she said, giggling, a sound never before heard from the child’s lips.

Kyara sagged, leaning against Darvyn. “Well, it’s obvious we have a lot of work to do.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Enjoy ever-deepening camaraderie

with those whose voices rise in chorus.

—THE HARMONY OF BEING

Varten packed very light. He couldn’t risk someone seeing him walking around with heavy luggage in the palace and asking questions that might get back to Jasminda. But he wasn’t sure what he’d need. Gilmeria was south of Elsira, but in the northern part of Yaly, abutting the mountain range separating the two countries. Temperatures there would be frigid, far worse than in mild Elsira.

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