Chapter 246: Reunification

Twelve stone spheres orbited above my head. Adrial lay on the floor, one eye closed, the other tracking their orbit. The tier-one telekinesis spell I had learned to practice was already level seventeen. There had been three versions of the spell, one in the air sphere, one in force magic, and one in the aetheric sphere. I had chosen the force version since the ritual would feature force magic to move the islands.

The air magic version had better evolutions that focused on speed, while the aetheric spell had more versatility. But it was the force version that quickly scaled up the mass that could be manipulated. I had to use three evolutions to increase the number of objects I could move at once, but the other six evolutions had all been focused on increasing the mass of the object I could move. Now I could move eight objects, each weighing up to 128 pounds. If I had started with a tier two version of the spell, that mass would have 512 pounds after six evolutions.

I kind of regretted not learning a higher tier of the spell, as this was kind of fun. I hadn’t really thought it would be a useful spell, but I found out there were many uses. I would never have to walk across the room to get anything; I could sit in a chair and have the spell do most of the cooking; I could play keep-away with Adrial—the last one wasn’t advised in a small room. The phantom cat destroyed the apartment the first time I tried.

It had its uses in a fight as well—ripping a weapon from the hand of an opponent, slowing down their movements, and yanking on their clothes. It was a bit harder targeting a moving object like Bleiz’s weapon or belt, but I was getting better with practice, and Bleiz was encouraging when we practiced. Combat practice also helped level the spell more quickly.

I brought all the orbiting stones together with such force that two of them cracked. Adrial flicked her tail in annoyance at the sound. The big black cat was grumpy without her sister to lean on socially. I thought about getting another phantom cat, but dealing with Kiara as she navigated being brought into society was enough. Maybe Lorae would be willing to let her socialize with her phantom cats. They were getting bigger, and the dark elf was frequently at the Duskhunters’ residence by the Progenitor Dungeon.

A knock on the door intruded on my thoughts. “Is it time?” I asked as Aelyn let herself in.

“Isla is already at Skyhold. We meet with Loriel in an hour,” she said.

Aelyn gave me a disappointed look. “We will leave soon. I won’t be late,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Having second thoughts?” She came and sat in my lap as I began spinning the spheres again.

“No. Just worried I am rushing this. Selina says the math is right, and I understand the rituals, but I only get one shot at this. These codices are intended for mages that have been studying magic for decades—centuries even,” I admitted my doubts.

Even Aelyn thought I was rushing in our conversations, but at this moment she chose to be supportive. “We all have faith in you. If you want, I can get Gareth over here, and he can tell you that you are the greatest mage Skyholme has ever seen,” she offered.

“He is back from the lowlands? Has he recovered any more of the platform aether crystals?” I asked hopefully. After the platforms had crashed, the Adventurers Guild members had swarmed them since the Sadian army was licking its wounds, and I pulled away to guard Skyholme.

“Uh, something like that,” Aelyn said tentatively. “Gareth wants to trade them to you for new equipment, but at a fraction of their value.”

“How much of a discount is he giving me?” I said, somewhat amused, but understood. Gareth and his team had recovered a crate of the aether crystals and had already given them to me for free. These crystals were looted crystals he was tracking down from adventurers and thieves.

“About ninety percent, roughly 1200 gold per crystal,” Aelyn replied. “He knows you are busy, but I thought you would want to know.”

“Agreeable. But when I have time. Tell Gareth we can have dinner and discuss his needs,” I said.

“He will probably ask if you are cooking,” Aelyn said.

“Sure, but the meal will come out of his commission on the crystals,” I joked. “Okay, I am ready.”

Adrial joined us on the Maelstrom as we headed for the capital. I was wondering if Loriel had figured it out and what her reaction would be. We landed and were escorted to the audience hall, which was set up for a buffet-style lunch. I ignored the table and took a seat across from Loriel at the table. Isla was already here, but the absence of Prince Consort Antioch was a bit surprising. Adrial tried to get comfortable under the table but just ended up jostling it, forcing Loriel and Isla to rescue their wine glasses.

Aelyn and I were seated, and the guards left the room. Loriel was waiting for me to speak. “So what do you think of my plan?”

Loriel took a long slow drink from her glass. “You mean the plan I just learned about thirty minutes ago?” She said calmly.

“Please, Loriel, you probably figured it out a week ago,” I derided.

“No. What I actually thought was that you were preparing for another attack on Skyholme, from past or new enemies. This is something entirely different,” she replied too levelly to get a read on her.

“Well, what do you think of reunification?” I asked. I produced a glass of cold fruit juice from my space to drink.

“It is dangerous, reckless… and probably the best thing for Skyholme. Although I would have wished you had planned to do it before the Senate elections,” she said, pursing her lips. Loriel had been strongly opposed to the Mera and Fera running for election, so I suspected she had significant influence in selecting the original candidates. She didn’t like it when I dismissed her concerns.

“You will help alert the people then?” I asked, placated.

“Certain areas of some cities need to be evacuated, and we have a plan to put red Xs on doors of buildings we have doubts about their integrity,” Isla volunteered. Even though we had initiated a program for the runic reinforcement, there just wasn’t enough time to do them all. It might be better to demolish and rebuild some of the buildings, but the cost would be immense.

“What is the worst-case scenario?” Loriel asked.

I looked at Isla as we had discussed this at length. The unknown was how well I could control the unification. “Twenty percent loss, but if the alert goes out, there should be no loss of life.”

“All the important structures have been reinforced with runes,” Loriel added.

“And you are asking for my blessing and for me to tell the people this was my grand plan?” Loriel stated.

“You can lay everything on me. I will take responsibility,” I said immediately.

I could see Loriel’s mind working. Did she want to risk not being part of the greatest magic Skyholme had ever seen? Success would raise her stature, but if I failed and she put her name to it she could be displaced. “I will handle the lords and merchants in the capital. When the time comes, I will announce to you that you brought me the idea when I elevated you to High Mage, and I approved.” There was some finality as she tied her fate to mine. “When is it going to happen?”

“Ten days at the earliest, but likely closer to fifteen,” I replied.

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 I landed at the Black Spire and climbed to the observatory in the Black Spire. Everything had been cleared out, and the Wolfsguard were constantly monitoring access. Selina was here and had prepared most of the runes from the codex on the floors, but I had assisted with the secondary ritual spell works for giving me extended sight and the high-tier telekinetic spell.

“You can only go over them so many times. Have you even found any errors?” I asked the old mage.

She gave me a sharp look. “You should have gone over them just as many times as I have. You are going to be channeling enough aether to incinerate the islands.”

“I don’t know why, but I am extremely calm about it all. I didn’t even say goodbye to Aelyn or Freya. This is a beginning, not an end,” I responded, but I was going over the steps for the ritual in my head. “The alerts should be going out all across the islands now. I plan to begin in an hour.”

Selina sighed and went over the runes one more time before wishing me luck with a kiss on the forehead. “You will succeed where others have failed. It is not worth your life…” I waved her off. There was an off-ramp from the ritual, but if I used it, I would give up my only chance to use it.

When Selina left, it was eerily quiet. The Black Spire and everything for a mile around would be evacuated. I could imagine Loriel dealing with a number of irate nobles at the moment as they were being told what was really happening. The elites would no longer be isolated in the central island if I succeeded. I would also look like a fool if I failed after everyone was told High Mage Storme Hardlight is bringing the islands together and nothing. There was pressure not to look like a fool. If it ended in a disaster, I might even lose my influence with the people, and they might not vote in the Senate elections as I wanted them to.

I stepped into the inner ring and produced the codex while watching the time counted down with my absolute time spell. I had come so far in four years, and now I was doing the impossible. Once I began, there was no turning back as time ticked down, I reviewed my last reading from Wynna and Ennet. It was a baseline to see how much the ritual changed me.

Aether 34,056Aether Max 38,023Aether Matrix 53/111

My aether was at 90% of its possible maximum, and that was still increasing steadily. I would never achieve 100% utilization, but Selina thought 96% to 97% was feasible for me. If this ritual went as expected, I should see a massive gain in my potential. My aether matrix was currently being stubborn in trying to expand it. I was using 45 of the 53 slots, and I was saving space for a high-tier spell.

I looked over my spells next, but I didn’t think they would be affected. Well, maybe my dimensional space since it was part of my aether core.

Imprinted Spell         Tier/Affinity/LevelAbsolute Time             1/Chronomancy/13Aether Fortress           3/Aetheric/12Aether Shield              2/Aetheric/20Alarm                          1/Divination/24Arcane Lock               1/Aetheric/14Arcane Web                2/Aetheric/11Cleanliness                  1/Aether/28Comprehend Languages         1/Aether/12Dimensional Closet    3/Space/27Flight                          3/Air/17Ice Ball                       1/Water/9Lesser Restoration      3/Healing/25Lightning Elemental   5/Lightning/25Lightning Reflexes     4/Lightning/Healing/33Lightning Spear          2/Lightning/14Lightning Sphere        2/Lightning/9Mend Flesh                 1/Healing/19Neutralize Poison       2/Healing/12Obfuscate Abilities     1/Darkness/21Personal Invisibility    2/Illusion/9Privacy                        1/Illusion/22Telescopic Eye           1/Air/18Thermostatic Aura      3/Healing/13Telekinesis                  1/Aether/23Tissue Extraction        3/Healing/9

The alarm went off as I was looking over the spells. It was finally time. I placed the codex in front of me and ran aether through it and all the runes on the floor. The codex crumbled to dust, and that dust formed a whirlwind that was quickly sucked into the runes as they glowed red hot. The method of the activation was unexpected, but there was no turning back. I felt a brush on my mind fortress, no there were multiple brushes. I had drawn the attention of powerful beings within the Sphere. Another unexpected outcome.

I didn’t have time to dwell on it as my consciousness began to expand. Not my consciousness but my perception of aether. I inhaled sharply as my mind was overwhelmed with the feedback. I could see the entirety of the Sphere. Thick veins ran through the colossal shell that was the Sphere. But that was not the only aether I could see in my omniscient. Each moon had its own network of aether lines as well. I knew the moons had their own dungeons, but didn’t know if they teleported delvers to the Sphere or the ley lines in the moons.

My attention was drawn to the brightest spot, the Sphere’s sun that was impossibly far away. Aether emanated from the sun, and I found I could zoom in on it. There were massive aether veins here as well, but in the center of the sun was an impossibly bright source—the heart of the Sphere and where all aether came from.

My mind had stepped out of my body, and I had gotten distracted. I returned my focus to the task at hand. My body was saturated with dense aether and it looked like it was consuming my body. Not consuming, forging my body. I had access to unlimited aether, and needed to use it. I returned to my corporal form. I found my body rigid with all my muscles clenched. Aether was coursing through me, but I think only seconds had passed. I think I might have peed myself, but a cleanliness spell would have to wait.

I was blind, but I had spells to correct this. I started to wrestle the aether into the ritual runes. It was easier than expected, and my sight expanded to all of the islands. I could see all eight of the major islands and seventeen much smaller ones. I was clumsy at first applying the tier five telekinetic spell, but soon found control. I selected Titan’s Shield first, not knowing how long I had; I could at least bring one island closer.

I channeled the aether and pressed on the island, and it resisted. I pressed harder, and the sheer cliff of the outer island crumbled from the pressure. No! This had to work! I changed my viewpoint and tried to move Metallica Island, and it resisted, and I stopped before the island crumbled under the pressure. Maybe it wasn’t possible. How much time did I have left? What else was there to try?

Twenty-five separate floating islands, broken thousands of years ago. Why did they stay together and not drift apart? Together? I adjusted my sight to bring all the fragments into focus. Could I divide up the spell into twenty-five different applications of force? I started to divide up the spell’s focus.

At first, I thought it wasn’t working, but then my perception changed, and I could see the islands moving rather than resisting. If my heart had been beating, it would be racing. It was working, but the question was, would I have enough time?

The outer islands and fragments began to accelerate as I pushed harder and harder. I understood their momentum was building, and I would need to slow them down before they all collided in the center. From above, I could see the fragments' orientation coming together like a shattered dinner plate breaking in reverse. Closer and closer they moved.

Then the aether was starting to leave my body, the process of reforging my aether core nearly complete. But the islands were still too far apart! I didn’t know whether they would maintain their momentum or just freeze where they were if I stopped pushing. I released the pressure—and the satellite islands kept their momentum as they converged on the capital island. Not good!

Even if I didn’t complete the process, I needed to use all my remaining time to stop them. It was like trying to stop a skyship with my body, and panic began to set in as the aether I could draw diminished. I tried to contain the retreating aether from my body, but it was like trying to hold sand in a sieve. There was not enough time; I wasn’t going to be able to stop the islands.

I channeled every last bit of aether and then used everything in my core. As my core depleted, I was not sure I had done enough, but it didn’t matter as I passed out.

I woke up on a cloud, Aelyn’s face hovering over me. I recognized the room; it was my personal suite, which I rarely used in the Black Spire. “Is everyone okay? Did it work?”

“That is your first question?” Aelyn hissed.

There were others in the room, and Selina spoke, drawing my attention to her. But my mother, Freya, Adrial, Callem and Bleiz were nearby. Even Gareth had his stupid grin on and was leaning against the wall. “It worked. There was a modest collision. Damage assessments are still being completed, but about 10% of the buildings across the islands have collapsed. Many people were injured, but are being healed as we speak.”

“I wouldn’t call that a modest collision,” Gareth chuckled. All eyes turned to him and he shut up.

I fell into the pillow with relief. “Skyholme is changed, Storme,” Callem’s deep voice said. “There are still chasms between the islands as they rebounded slightly when you brought them together, but bridges will be built.”

“Loriel is planning a celebration throughout the islands; if you don’t get out of bed, she will take all the credit,” Bleiz said snidely.

I didn’t care. Wynna and Ennet were in the room, and I knew why they were here. My aether core felt like lava at the moment, and I didn’t want to channel any aether through it. I sat up and tried to run my fingers through my hair, finding only scalp. “All your hair is gone, Storme. All of it,” Aelyn informed me with a smirk. A small price but my body ached and I desperately wanted to heal myself but was too afraid to use the dense aether in my core.

My friends and family made me eat as I found out I had been passed out for three days. After that, I was left alone with Wynna and Ennet. They only needed my bad, and I didn’t need to channel my aether for their reading to work. On unsteady legs, I sat at the dinner table across from them as they set the paper under my hand.

The mother and daughter flinched. “Your blood doesn’t want to leave your body. You need to relax and let it happen, Storme. Otherwise, we cannot do a reading.” I nodded and tried to relax, but it was not easy. I felt so different. Eventually, the blood populated the paper under my hand. As was their normal procedure, a blanket covered my hands and the paper. The pair believed readings were a personal matter. “I think it worked, we will leave you alone.”

I uncovered the paper after the door had shut and read it:

AbilitiesAetheric Conversion to Metal, Tier 7Greater Aether Core, Tier 5Metal Sculpting, Tier 4Exchange, Tier 3Aetheric Synergy, Tier 1

TraitsPast Life Knowledge, Tier 1

Skill AffinitiesHealing Magic, Tier 4 Lightning Magic, Tier 2 Cooking, Tier 4Artificing, Tier 1

Aether 139,056Aether Max 158,023Aether Matrix 159/341

My heart raced as so many changes had occurred. My greater aether core had been enhanced from 4 to 5, and I had gained a new ability called aetheric synergy. In all my readings, I had never heard of such an ability. My aether core had been stretched and filled with four times as much aether as before. I could almost power a skyship by myself.

More importantly, my aether matrix had expanded by a lot. I now had 114 free spell slots to learn new spells, and I could expand my matrix by almost another 200! With this, I could learn spells strong enough to challenge the mage that had commanded the platforms.

Then I remembered that my awakening had also drawn the attention of powerful beings. Would they come searching for me? Should I leave Skyholme for its own safety? Things were more uncertain than ever. Adrial rose, stretched, and settled her massive head under my hand so I could scratch behind her ears.

END OF BOOK 5

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