Chapters
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If the Autochthonous Depths were unwelcoming, setting foot in the Dead Dominions was like venturing onto the surface of an alien planet. Lyra kept as close to her group as she could, magical tool ready in one hand and the words of a spell on her lips. Not that it would matter—most of her magic wouldn’t even work on the dangerous ghosts of this awful place.The Dead Dominions, or at least this one, was a battlefield. The ground was mud and broken stone, lined with trenches and dotted by foxholes.…-
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Lyra shuddered as she stepped through the ghostly portal, the chill of the Underworld seeping through her. They walked through fog for a long time, with only the occasional flash of dark stone or the glow of a candle flame to suggest light in this place. After a few minutes spent hiking nearly blind, she worked a little magic. Being a cat in a place like this would make her too weak, and unable to wield most useful weapons. But if she changed her ears, made them able to move independently and follow any…
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Reagan and Tabitha returned at some point that day. Lyra wasn’t exactly sure when—long enough that she didn’t feel so tired, or too anxious to stalk along behind them as they came inside. Tabitha went straight down the hall to the Sanctum’s luxurious indoor spa (her own addition, of course), while Reagan made her way to the kitchen.Lyra followed her inside, hopping up on the counter to watch as Reagan worked. Disinterested at first, until she took a fresh fish from the fridge along with a knife.…
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“That could be simple...” Reagan said, leaning towards the vampire. “We could find almost anyone. We need a name, a photo, maybe something they owned. Some hair or fingernails or blood would be great too.”“The last one we can do,” Volita said. “Her name is Jaqueline Kessler. I sent her to do something, and I haven’t heard back from her in a very long time. But I know her kind well enough to know they don’t die easily. I’d like to help her, but I can’t do that if I can’t find…
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Lyra did not charge blindly into an enclosure of powerful predators hoping to deal with any encounter as it came. The power of any mage came from preparation, so she prepared. She lingered in the doorway for a few seconds, muttering a few words in Atlantean and drawing with her knife. Rainbow looked up from the glass to watch, fascinated and amused.“I am larger, I am stronger. This is my territory. You will respect me and let me pass.” She said it, and it was so. Though nothing about her appearance…
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Lyra faced the newcomer, lowering her fingers very slowly from her magical tool. Normally she would’ve just drawn it—there was nothing a gun that small could do to a shield as powerful as hers. But the one holding it—if she moved that fast, her own punch probably hit harder than a bullet.Ventus never moved like that. She thought longingly of Capper, or Bonnie for that matter. Either one could back her up in a fight with a vampire. “Sorry about the delay,” Reagan said. She remained behind Lyra,…
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Lyra had a day to prepare for the meeting with the Kindred.Normally her first source of information about such a dangerous meeting was Akiko, the mage who could answer any question about magic. She wasn’t always right—or Capper didn’t think so—but even when she didn’t know, she was always honest.Reagan wasn’t around either, though Lyra wandered out into the barn more than once to look for her. She even asked the horses for help, but they hadn’t seen her. Whatever preparations she had to make,…
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Lyra approached Akiko slowly, half a dozen spells rising to her mind. Why would Aiko invite Tempest out of her cell, where she wasn’t contained by the wards? This woman already tried to kill her more than once—she’d been willing to sacrifice Bonnie’s life to her invisible masters—and as many mages as she could kill in the process.“Do the Guardians know she’s here?” Reagan asked, voice low and nervous. “We weren’t just keeping her in the Sanctum for our sake.”“They never knew my…
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They went to the excavation early in the evening, once the streets of Ponyville had emptied and ordinary people were all at home having dinner with their families. Lyra and Bonnie sat together in the back of an old van, while Reagan had the wheel.“First mission!” Tabitha exclaimed, from the seat just beside Bonnie. “Are you excited? I'd be excited. Maybe a little terrified. Jumping in with both feet on this one!”They all wore practical clothing now, sturdy and unremarkable. That meant something a…
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They dressed together in their shared suite, tucked away in the Sanctum. They weren't the only ones living there full time—Izzy also had her bedroom inside, along with Reagan and Akiko. Other mages might be there on a given day, depending on whatever was happening in Awakened politics.The local Free Council had fewer qualms about formal vestments and robes than the Atlantean orders, but some rituals were sacred enough that even the Libertines imitated a little of the pomp and circumstance. That meant a…
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