The blasts grew louder outside the hotel, and Akari followed her friends down the hallway. The lights flickered as they walked, leaving eerie shadows on the plaster walls. They were lucky Irina had found them when she did. Another ten minutes, and they might have lost internet access.

  How had Elend not mentioned his wife was a hacker? And how had Irina not found them sooner? Maybe that proved how isolated Creta was. Videos of Relia flooded the news here, but Espiria hadn’t seen one glimpse of that footage.

  Unfortunately, Koreldon City was several thousand miles away. Even with portals and airships, it would take Irina the better part of the night to get here. Most nations had wards to prevent unauthorized crossing, and Espiria couldn’t risk offending its allies.

  “You guys sure you wanna be here?” Relia asked as they walked. “There are more buildings down the street. It’d be way safer for you there.”

  “We’ve been over this,” Kalden said. “And didn’t I just ask you the exact same question?”

  “I have to fight,” she said. “You don’t.”

  “We’ve been fighting together this whole time.”

  “Yeah, but this is different. There might be Artisans downstairs.”

  “What else is new?” Akari struggled to keep her eyes open as she followed her friends. Apparently, Kalden’s super coffee potion wasn’t working as well as he’d promised.

  “We were lucky to escape last time,” Relia said.

  “We’ll be fine up here,” Akari said. “The lobby’s like three levels down.”

  Relia spun on her heel, giving them both a flat look. “You guys don’t get it, do you? Artisan fire can melt through stone.” She made an exploding gesture with her hands, complete with sound effects. “They could turn this whole place to rubble.”

  Shit. Relia must be exaggerating, right? Larger structures had sigil-powered reinforcements to keep them standing. Otherwise, one pissed-off Artisan could wreck a whole city overnight

  But sigils could fail if they lost power. Maybe it couldn’t hurt to wait next door; close to Relia, but not too close. Akari opened her mouth to suggest that, but Kalden spoke first.

  “We’re forgetting one thing,” he said. “They caught all three of us on camera. We’re in danger no matter where we go.”

  Relia looked like she might object, then she slumped her shoulders. “Darn it, you’re right.” She turned to Akari next. “And they know you killed one of them.”

  Kalden nodded. “Even if they didn’t, the Dragonlord could use us as hostages. That gives him one more card to play when Irina gets here.”

  Akari felt more lightheaded as they spoke. Her body swayed, and she stumbled into the wall.

  “Woah.” Kalden held out a hand to steady her, and she practically collapsed in his arms.

  “The allnighter potion?” Relia asked Kalden.

  “It’s been half an hour,”he said. “She should be fine.”

  Relia asked another question, but her voice sounded far away.

  Kalden muttered something about biochemistry as he lowered her to the floor, supporting her head in his arms. Every muscle in her body grew heavy, from her eyelids to her limbs.

  “Her mark’s gone,” Relia said.

  Akari blinked her eyes open, trying to focus on her friends through her one good lens. Relia and Kalden had lost their marks too. When did that happen? She reached out with her mana senses and tried to feel Elend's Construct inside her head.

  “Akari?” Kalden said. “Can you hear me?”

  “Uh-huh,” she said with a weary nod. Was she seriously about to pass out? Again? Why was that happening so much lately? Getting knocked out in combat was one thing, but this . . .

  The answer came to her a second later: Elend’s dream Construct. What if that was fading, too? What if her soul wanted her to see something important? This could be the final vision that helped her advance.

  Only one way to find out.

  “I’ll be fine,” Akari told them. “Give me a few minutes before you wake me up.”

  And with that, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  ~~~

  Skyscrapers surrounded her on all sides—the sort of buildings you only saw in old movies. Buildings so tall she had to crane her neck to see their peaks. Instead of plain glass windows, each structure had intricate designs of twisting metal along the edges. Some tapered as they grew. Others twisted at their peaks like frosting on a cake.

  Rain misted from the sky above, and the streets shone with fresh rainwater, reflecting molten red lines from the setting sun.

  A fire Missile tore past her face, colliding with the pale blue shield further down. A burning car flew over her head, rolling through the street, and knocking over two advancing enemies. To her left, a gravity artist lifted the back of a semi-truck and hurled it through a glass window.

  Maelyn Sanako.

  This was a team match. Akari and Maelyn had lost their other teammates, but they’d also taken out several opponents.

  Just two more left.

  A fire artist hid behind a parked city bus, arcing orange Missiles toward them. Asphalt and concrete erupted on all sides as his techniques struck the ground.

  “Move that bus,” Akari shouted to Maelyn. “I’ll finish him off.”

  She gave a brisk nod. “Cover me!”

  Akari slid in front of Maelyn as the other girl gathered gravity mana in her hands. As always, Maelyn’s techniques took several seconds to form, and this left her vulnerable while she worked.

  Akari raised a pure mana shield, deflecting several more fire Missiles. She also kept pressure on the bus’s left side, blocking the boy’s retreat.

  “Tell me when!” Akari said.

  “When!” Maelyn shouted.

  Akari leapt to the side, and Maelyn flung her technique straight toward the bus. The massive vehicle floated off the ground, more than a dozen feet into the air. But the fire artist hadn’t been idle. A dense volley of orange Missiles flew beneath the bus, too wide to dodge.

  Shit! Akari formed another shield, but it was no match for her opponent’s raw power. Mana flooded her legs as she moved to retreat, but Maelyn formed a second technique of her own. Gravity mana formed above their heads in the shape of a swirling, semi-transparent orb. This orb drew in the fire Missiles like a black hole.

  Maelyn hurled her Construct at the fire artist , yanking his shield upward and leaving him exposed.

  Rain prickled Akari’s fingertips as she raised her hand and unleashed her next Missile. It closed the distance between her and her opponent, sharpening to a point as it flew under the raised Construct.

  The Missile speared the boy through the stomach. His shield flickered out, then she and Maelyn breathed a sigh of relief as he faded into a cloud of white mist.

  But this wasn’t over. Their teammates had kept their last opponent busy, but he’d be here any second.

  As if in response to her thoughts, Kalden Trengsen appeared at the end of the street with a storm of swords moving around him.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Akari and Maelyn raced for cover as several blades closed in. By now, Kalden had faced almost everyone in school, earning himself the second-highest spot in the Novice League.

  Akari still held the crown, but that would change if she lost today’s match.

  “I’ll keep him busy,” Maelyn said. “You get behind him.”

  Akari nodded. She and Maelyn didn’t always get along, but the girl was a better team player than most. Others would have refused to be the bait on principle, even if it meant losing the match.

  Kalden bisected Maelyn’s next Construct with a flying blade. But Maelyn had already predicted that, and she followed with several smaller versions of the same technique. Each one struck from a different angle—too fast for most opponents to block.

  Kalden ripped through them all as Akari flanked him from the right. Even with the element of surprise, no ordinary technique would break Kalden’s shield wall. Dozens of other students had tried and failed.

  Fortunately, Akari had saved her new aspect for last.

  Three days had passed since the ritual with Ashur Moonfire. Three days were nothing in terms of mana arts, but she’d spent years of her life studying this aspect, preparing for this exact moment.

  Akari cycled space mana as she crept closer. It flowed like air through her channels, meeting little resistance along the way. But this also made her techniques trickier to form. If pure mana was like shaping clay, this was like shaping pure hydrogen.

  Fortunately, she’d practiced this part too, going through hundreds of bottles worth of space mana, enduring years of failure along the way.

  That failure ended today.

  She waited for Maelyn to unleash her next technique. Then she raised her hand and flung a space Missile straight toward her opponent. The mana cut through the air almost instantly, ignoring everything in its path. It slipped past Kalden’s shield wall and stopped a few inches from his back.

  Like many advanced aspects, a single space Missile was useless on its own. But Akari pulled it back and flattened it into a Construct. The first half of her portal technique. Even now—at the upper end of Gold—one portal took at least half her space mana reserves.

  Kalden launched two blades toward Maelyn’s cover. They curved around the brick wall, shining golden in the faint sunlight. They arched back a heartbeat later, trailing clouds of white mist. A burst of light followed as Maelyn’s body vanished from the arena.

  Then Kalden spun to face Akari.

  “Shit.” She gathered more space mana in her palm, dropping her next Missile into the road by her feet.

  Kalden moved quicker, launching a pair of blades toward her.

  Akari raised her own weapon and parried the first attack. She almost dodged the second, but that wouldn’t be enough. Kalden was a master of altering his mana’s course. He’d slice her up like a fruit if she tried to run

  So Akari gathered pure mana into a shield, focusing it all into a single point. Blade mana ripped through most Constructs like wet paper, but it would also ricochet off hard surfaces.

  Kalden’s technique sang like an anvil as it hit her shield, deflecting harmlessly away.

  In the same moment, Akari flattened the Missile by her feet, forming the second half of her portal. Space bent between the two points. A hole opened in the road beside her, and she saw red clouds in a perfect mirror of the sky above.

  Akari plunged her blade into the portal. The tip emerged from the other end, spearing her opponent through his shoulder blades.

  Victory!

  She’d been weak without an aspect, but now she could beat anyone. Even Kalden Trengsen.

  The world blurred into clouds of dream mana around them, and the urban cityscape faded to reveal Last Haven’s arena.

  Kalden pulled off his helmet as he faced her from two dozen yards away. As usual, his hair was perfectly styled, and he hadn’t even broken a sweat. For all that, his wide-eyed expression was a work of art. He even glanced behind him as if he expected to find his killer standing there.

  The audience remained equally silent. Even the announcer didn’t speak for several long seconds. Oh well. They’d figure it out when they watched the replays. In the meantime, Akari yanked off her helmet and bowed to her opponent.

  Kalden pressed his fist to his palm and bowed back. He’d obviously recovered from his shock, because it was the same bow he gave when he won.

  No wonder everyone called him a mindless drone. But at least he was polite.

  Akari turned and made her way toward the locker rooms. Unlike Kalden, she was a sweaty mess, and—

  The air warped in the center of the arena. The space cracked and opened, and a man stepped out to meet her.

  Akari blinked at the newcomer. “Dad?”

  “That was space mana,” Mazren said as he stepped out of the portal.

  “You watch my matches?” she blurted out. “Since when?” She knew she’d have to face her parents sooner or later. She’d just hoped it would be later.

  “That wasn’t from a potion,” Mazren said. “You aspected your mana.”

  Akari shrugged a shoulder. “It wasn’t that hard.”

  “Don’t lie to me,” Mazren snapped.

  Akari shot a glance at the audience. No one could hear them from this far, but many of them stared openly.

  “I learned it online.” Akari made her way back toward the school, hoping he would follow her away from the crowd.

  “Stop,” he said. “What’s done is done. There’s no reason to lie.”

  Akari froze in place. Her father was normally so laid back. She’d rarely seen him this serious, even when they argued.

  “Someone taught you the ritual,” he said. “Someone from outside this sect.”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Who was it?”

  Akari turned around, still not meeting his gaze. “Just some guy. Said his name was Ashur Moonfire.”

  Mazren frowned in obvious confusion. “What did he want from you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “This is important,” Mazren pressed. “He didn’t teach you that ritual for free. I need to know what he wanted.”

  Damnit. Akari bit her lip, staring down at the arena floor. She’d hoped to avoid this part, but Mazren had seen through her lies far too easily.

  Just then, she caught something floating in the clouds above—solid black, and shaped like a human.

  What the hell?

  The man’s form was as still as the mountains themselves, and wings of shadow and fire stretched out around him, twice as wide as his arm span. Then a weight pressed on Akari’s soul. It felt like standing next to a Grandmaster with his power unveiled. Only this person was hundreds of feet away.

  Mazren spun to face the floating figure, and so did most of the audience. The man grew closer with each passing second. The air thickened, and Akari almost collapsed on the arena floor.

  A Mystic.

  Mystics were the strongest of all mana artists; most of them ruled ancient clans, if not entire continents. Akari had never seen one in person before today.

  “It’s him,” Mazren said in a low voice.

  Several seconds passed as a chill spread over her skin, causing every hair on her body to stand up. The weight of the Mystic’s power froze her in place, and her mana refused to budge. Even her mind went blank.

  But her father cycled his mana as he stared up at the figure. Then he shot a Missile somewhere into the mountains. Was he making a portal to escape?

  The Missile exploded against some unseen barrier, and the ripples of his technique echoed through the sky. They were trapped.

  Mazren fired another technique toward the town hall. Space warped around them both, then she stood with her father at the highest point in Last Haven, gazing down at the panicking crowds.

  Up above, the floating figure began forming his own technique.

  Mazren turned to face his enemy, gathering spheres of pure mana in his palms.

  Black shadows flooded out from the Mystic’s outstretched hand. They spread through the sky, shrouding the world in darkness. This was nothing like ordinary mana. This was like staring into a pure, endless void.

  Nothing could escape that void. It even pulled at her memories, and each glimpse was like seeing the technique for the first time.

  The technique grew wider, and the black veil stretched on for miles from horizon to horizon. It blocked out the sun, shrouding the world in a moonless night.

  Mazren unveiled his own soul, and the weight of his power made her collapse. Once again, this felt far stronger than any mana she’d felt before. She’d always thought her parents were ordinary Masters, but he was clearly something more.

  Her father raised his right hand, releasing the technique he’d gathered. The Construct formed into a massive dome, wide enough to protect all of Last Haven from that endless void. Other mana artists added their power to Mazren’s shield. Barely ten seconds had passed since the invader had arrived, but they all moved as if their lives depended on it.

  In that moment, her past self dared to hope they’d be alright. But her present self knew the truth. This was her last vision—her final glimpse into her old life. That void wouldn’t kill her sect. It would erase them all from existence. And not just their physical bodies. This would erase every record, every photograph, and every memory.

  It would be as if they’d never existed.

  Several more seconds passed, then Akari’s mother appeared on the roof beside them. Her short black hair billowed in the mountain wind, covering half her face.

  “Help me with this!” Mazren shouted at her.

  Emeri didn’t even glance up at the floating figure. “It’s too late,” she said. “We’re trapped.”

  “Can you give us more time?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve tried, but he’s too strong. Nothing we do can change this.”

  Akari tried to speak, but her mouth refused to move in the face of so much power.

  Her mother turned to face her, putting her hands on her shoulders. “You might not remember this when you wake up. You might not remember who you are, or even your own name.” Mana flowed from her fingertips, straight into Akari’s soul. Her gaze penetrated just as deep as her mana, as if she were speaking to Akari’s present self, across space and time. “But your father and I will be with you wherever you go. We will never stop fighting.”

  The Mystic’s technique collided with her father’s shield. Mazren held the void at bay, but only for a heartbeat. Cracks spread through the Construct, then it shattered like a frozen ocean, collapsing into pale blue mist.

  Darkness consumed them as the void passed through the cloud of broken mana. Time slowed to a crawl, and everyone she knew vanished like shattered dreams. It was as if they’d always been illusions, and this technique revealed the truth.

  And as the people faded, so did Akari’s memories. Even her present self felt the effects, as if the technique had no boundaries across space and time.

  When Akari opened her eyes again, she found herself lying on the street beneath the A16 overpass, a few blocks from downtown Elegan. Her mother lay on the street beside her.

  They’d both been stripped of their power. Lies replaced their memories, and bronze badges hung from their necks.