idea who you are. How come you know my name?”
Rieuk could feel every etched mark of the hawk tattoo throbbing as though the blood-ink that linked him to his familiar was being slowly drawn out through his skin. He doubled up as the pain took hold.
“Enough!” Oranir shouted to Anagini as Rieuk sagged against him. “Stop this now. He can't take any more.”
“Have I answered your question, Rieuk?” Anagini asked.
Rieuk nodded, unable to speak. He could feel Ormas's image begin to bleed out of him, as the tiny puncture wounds sealed so long ago opened, one by one.
Anagini drew a veil of mist around them and, at its darkest core, he saw Ormas's mortal form dwindle. And as it faded, the excruciating pain in his chest faded too. The hawk came winging toward him and, as Rieuk reached out to him, he melted back into his body.
“This is what becomes of a magus's soul.” The Guardian's voice was harsh, each word like a hammerblow, piercing Rieuk's consciousness. “This is what you will become when you die.”
“A shadow hawk?” Rieuk laid a hand over his breast, instinctively checking for Ormas's heartbeat close to his own.
“You are born with angel blood in your veins. So when your body dies, your soul cannot follow the path taken by other mortals. Neither can it ascend to be one with the Heavenly Guardians. So it is transmuted, changed in the Rift, to a winged spirit. But during that transmutation, all mortal memories are washed away. The soul is reborn as a winged spirit, a hawk of the shadows.”
“So when Imri died, his soul…” Rieuk could still not fully grasp what Anagini had told them.
“Imri has been reborn as a shadow hawk.”
Rieuk fell silent. At last he had learned the truth. He felt empty… yet he also felt a certain sense of release.
“Even if you were to find him in the Rift, he would remember nothing of you or his mortal life.”
Anagini's words were frank to the point of cruelty.
“Nothing?” Rieuk repeated, hearing his own voice as if from far away.
“I have answered your question, Rieuk,” she said softly. “And now you must fulfill your part of our pact.”
Pact? Rieuk was fully awake again. “But we never agreed—”
She pressed her fingertips to his forehead, and her touch made him shiver. “Your powers are already weakening. Can't you feel it? Andas the Rift grows more unstable, so your powers will slowly leak away… as will mine too. Go after her, and bring her back to the Rift.”
“Azilis.” This was not what Rieuk wanted to hear. “Why must it always come back to Azilis?”
“Azilis is an aethyrial spirit. She draws her strength from the Rift. But she has been away so long that she too is growing weak. To survive, she has begun to draw on the life essence of the very child she was bound to protect.”
“She's been living off Celestine's life force?” What happened to a mortal body when its essence was slowly drained away? Would Celestine begin to age too swiftly? She had been such a beautiful young woman when last he saw her; would he find her withered and feeble?
“When mortals bond with aethyrial spirits, there is always a price to pay. This is something the Dragon Lords of Azhkendir know to their cost.”
“So… unless I bring Azilis back to the Rift, our Emissaries will die and we will lose our powers?”
“You are the last surviving crystal magus, Rieuk.” She leaned toward him so close that he felt as if he were drowning in the liquid depths of her emerald eyes. “There is no one else with the skill to make a new Lodestar. Are you brave enough to do this? Even though it means returning to risk the dangers of the Rift?”
Rieuk swallowed. The mere thought of venturing back into that chaotic darkness disturbed him. But for the sake of Ormas and Imri's reborn soul, he knew there was no alternative. “If I must, then I must.”
Anagini took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead. As she did so, he heard her voice whispering softly in
Rieuk could feel every etched mark of the hawk tattoo throbbing as though the blood-ink that linked him to his familiar was being slowly drawn out through his skin. He doubled up as the pain took hold.
“Enough!” Oranir shouted to Anagini as Rieuk sagged against him. “Stop this now. He can't take any more.”
“Have I answered your question, Rieuk?” Anagini asked.
Rieuk nodded, unable to speak. He could feel Ormas's image begin to bleed out of him, as the tiny puncture wounds sealed so long ago opened, one by one.
Anagini drew a veil of mist around them and, at its darkest core, he saw Ormas's mortal form dwindle. And as it faded, the excruciating pain in his chest faded too. The hawk came winging toward him and, as Rieuk reached out to him, he melted back into his body.
“This is what becomes of a magus's soul.” The Guardian's voice was harsh, each word like a hammerblow, piercing Rieuk's consciousness. “This is what you will become when you die.”
“A shadow hawk?” Rieuk laid a hand over his breast, instinctively checking for Ormas's heartbeat close to his own.
“You are born with angel blood in your veins. So when your body dies, your soul cannot follow the path taken by other mortals. Neither can it ascend to be one with the Heavenly Guardians. So it is transmuted, changed in the Rift, to a winged spirit. But during that transmutation, all mortal memories are washed away. The soul is reborn as a winged spirit, a hawk of the shadows.”
“So when Imri died, his soul…” Rieuk could still not fully grasp what Anagini had told them.
“Imri has been reborn as a shadow hawk.”
Rieuk fell silent. At last he had learned the truth. He felt empty… yet he also felt a certain sense of release.
“Even if you were to find him in the Rift, he would remember nothing of you or his mortal life.”
Anagini's words were frank to the point of cruelty.
“Nothing?” Rieuk repeated, hearing his own voice as if from far away.
“I have answered your question, Rieuk,” she said softly. “And now you must fulfill your part of our pact.”
Pact? Rieuk was fully awake again. “But we never agreed—”
She pressed her fingertips to his forehead, and her touch made him shiver. “Your powers are already weakening. Can't you feel it? Andas the Rift grows more unstable, so your powers will slowly leak away… as will mine too. Go after her, and bring her back to the Rift.”
“Azilis.” This was not what Rieuk wanted to hear. “Why must it always come back to Azilis?”
“Azilis is an aethyrial spirit. She draws her strength from the Rift. But she has been away so long that she too is growing weak. To survive, she has begun to draw on the life essence of the very child she was bound to protect.”
“She's been living off Celestine's life force?” What happened to a mortal body when its essence was slowly drained away? Would Celestine begin to age too swiftly? She had been such a beautiful young woman when last he saw her; would he find her withered and feeble?
“When mortals bond with aethyrial spirits, there is always a price to pay. This is something the Dragon Lords of Azhkendir know to their cost.”
“So… unless I bring Azilis back to the Rift, our Emissaries will die and we will lose our powers?”
“You are the last surviving crystal magus, Rieuk.” She leaned toward him so close that he felt as if he were drowning in the liquid depths of her emerald eyes. “There is no one else with the skill to make a new Lodestar. Are you brave enough to do this? Even though it means returning to risk the dangers of the Rift?”
Rieuk swallowed. The mere thought of venturing back into that chaotic darkness disturbed him. But for the sake of Ormas and Imri's reborn soul, he knew there was no alternative. “If I must, then I must.”
Anagini took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead. As she did so, he heard her voice whispering softly in
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