The Star and the Web

By H.D. Grogan

Calyx has never caused trouble before. Having earned her blue mage’s robes after years of training with the powerful Afterii Order, she has proven herself a diligent student and loyal subject of the Erasten Empire, though she quickly finds herself in over her head as the Order struggles to respond to growing reports of poisonous, twisted magic. But when the truth about that magic leads her to question the Order’s teachings, she can’t help but be alarmed when her concerns are dismissed as fantasy, eclipsed by reports that the dangerous and quasi-mythical Nerenii have returned from centuries of exile. Certain that her Order's own magic poses an even greater danger, Calyx has to decide how far she will go to avert disaster, and at what cost.

The Star and the Web is a fast-paced and gripping fantasy novel with a story that is strongly character-driven yet world-changing in scope. It launches an epic fantasy series of similarly sweeping proportions, which will continue with the forthcoming sequel, Spider in the Web.

• Language: English
• Publisher: H.D. Grogan
• Release date: Apr 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301610495

H.D. Grogan

H.D. Grogan was born in California, grew up in New York, and finally settled in rural western Massachusetts after several other stops along the way. She is a U.S. Air Force veteran, and holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a minor in Russian studies. Well, she doesn’t generally hold it, exactly, but she’s pretty sure she knows where it is.

Book preview

Dedication

For Thomas

Thank you for believing so much in this book, and in me.

Chapter 1

Calyx frowned at the glassy black stone, careful not to get too close. The half-melted, misshapen lump wasn't much bigger than her fist, but it hadn't been difficult to find, not with the way it spilled power into the landscape, twisting the trees and tinting the air a sickly shade of gray. It was like nothing she had ever seen, and even after close examination she still had no idea what it could have been made for. She did know two things for certain, though—it had been made by someone, and it was far more dangerous than she had anticipated.

This thing could warp the land for miles around if it's not contained, she thought. It can't wait; I'm just not sure I should be the one to do it.

She snorted softly at her own understatement. Her mentor—and the rest of the Order—would be appalled at the idea of a mage so new to her robes confronting this kind of power alone. The fact that she was here at all spoke more to the urgency of the situation than to her personal skill. But that urgency also meant that her strict orders to investigate, not intervene, could be disastrous; by the time a more experienced mage could be sent, it would likely be too late. Uncontained, the stone's influence could easily threaten the surrounding villages, if it hadn't begun poisoning them already.

Running a hand across her forehead to push back loose strands of chestnut-brown hair, Calyx pursed her lips and exhaled. Her next inhale drew in rich, black energy from the soil and stone beneath her feet; holding it inside her own energy field, she took nine more breaths in the same way, allowing the sacred, stable number ten to structure the earth energy until she could grasp it. Using her hands to direct her thoughts, she shaped it into a narrow wand.

Focusing her mind with the ease of long practice, she began to bring that incorporeal wand closer to the lump of stone, but the earth energy, usually so stable, seemed ready to fly apart as it neared the artifact's surface. Sweat ran down the back of her neck, and she clenched her jaw as the strain grew; alarmed, she began to breathe rhythmically, drawing another ten breaths of earth up to bolster her wand until the instability eased, though she could still feel waves of power buffeting her control. Moving carefully now, she began to extend the wand into a conduit that would lead the stone's energy into the ground at her feet, giving it a channel independent of her own energy field. She only had to maintain contact with the wand for a moment longer, easing it gently closer until it almost touched the…

The blinding flash in her mind sent Calyx staggering back, a scream torn from her throat. Contorted waves of energy writhed toward her, overflowing the conduit she had created, and she collapsed beneath their weight, her breath unstructured and gasping. Strength failing, she tried to push herself upright, but darkness fell as the waves passed over, leaving her stretched and still on the rocky ground.

The light outside her eyelids brought on a fierce pounding in her head as Calyx climbed back to consciousness, her body cold and aching. As memory began to return, her eyes flew open in alarm, bringing fresh pounding and a sharp stabbing pain behind her eyes. Bright morning sunlight glittered from the glassy lump of rock beside her, and she scowled balefully—and more than a little fearfully—at it as she levered herself up to a sitting position. From a cursory inspection of the stone, she could tell that her efforts had merely staved off trouble; it still radiated a malevolent energy that showed no signs of abating. Cold dread gripped her at the thought of approaching it again, and she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands as she tried to formulate a plan of attack.

Every year, there were more reports of twisted magic throughout the Erasten Empire, and the Afterii Order found itself hard-pressed to keep up. Their first priority, of course, was to clean the landscape of its toxic effects; a close second was to try to prevent more. The trouble was, the energy proved difficult to contain, and its origins stubbornly remained a mystery. Some were saying that the mythical Nerenii had returned and created the crisis, while others scoffed at this superstition and suggested more natural causes. Whatever the source, the situation was clearly more than she could handle on her own, but she didn't want to leave without doing what she could to decrease the energy's volatility.

Ok, Cally, you should at least… Her inner taskmaster stopped dead as she opened her eyes again, breath caught in her throat.

Everything looked different. Where before she had seen only rocks, scrub, and the low foothills of the Simashan mountain range, she now saw golden lines of energy. They lay like a net, or a web, across the still-visible landscape. The lines varied in thickness, and some glowed brightly while others were so pale they were barely visible against the background of normal sight. Calyx looked down at herself, and saw brilliant strands outlining her body and connecting her to countless other threads. Almost against her will, she raised her head, tracing one strand that seemed different from the others. As she had feared, it led from her own energy field—from a dense cluster of strands right at the center of her body—straight to the black stone that had brought her here.

The strand started out golden where it touched her energy field, but its shape was irregular, here thick and solid, then dwindling to a hair's breadth before thickening again. As she traced its path toward the stone, the golden color grew streaked with an oily black, a repulsive shade nothing like the rich ebony of the earth energy she had used earlier. The edges of the strand seemed to warp and fray the closer it got to the stone, until it became entirely black and mangled where it contacted the artifact. All of the strands connected to the stone had the same rotted look to them, and she could see that rottenness spreading outward into the surrounding energy web.

Scarcely daring to blink lest the vision fade, Calyx clambered stiffly to her feet. Cautiously, she took a half step toward the stone and had to fight down rising bile as the thick, oily blackness pressed in more strongly. She forced herself to take another step closer, nearly gagging as the foulness increased—but now she could see it. A knotted tangle of warped and blackened strands lay at the center of the melted lump of stone, a stagnant pool of energy rotting within the knot and poisoning the web around it.

Pushing aside her aversion, she took a deep breath and held it as she plunged her mind into the tangled mass of fibers. It felt like decomposing flesh, but she kept herself focused long enough to loosen one snarled thread from the center of the knot. She released another, and another, and suddenly the whole mass collapsed, the threads pulled back into order by the natural tension of the web. The stagnant energy moved sluggishly back into the surrounding strands, which slowly began to regain their pale golden color as the nauseating sensation of wrongness started to dissipate.

Calyx crumpled to her hands and knees and retched until she shook with exhaustion and relief. Half-sobs mixed with gasps as she struggled to catch her breath, and the golden strands of the energy web glittered through tears as she tried to pull herself together. But as her breath grew slower and started to even out, she gave a small cry of dismay. Her vision of the web was beginning to fade, the threads growing fainter and fainter in her sight until she was left staring at ordinary rocks and trees, the landscape suddenly drab. The last of her strength left with the vision, and she slumped to the ground beside the glassy stone and slipped into an exhausted sleep.

When she woke, night was falling. Famished, she pushed herself to her feet and stumbled toward the small stand of trees where she had left her supplies, grateful to discover that her horse remained nearby, though he had broken free of his tether to find forage. But before she reached the trees, she paused and, after a moment's hesitation, retraced her steps until she stood over the strange black stone again. Reaching out with only a slight tremor in her fingers, she picked it up, feeling nothing but ordinary rock. Taking a square of white cloth from her pocket, she wrapped it carefully and carried it toward the trees. It might be worth some study by the Order, especially if it could shed light on her vision.

Chapter 2

Calyx, rested and clean after a week on the road, knocked politely on the edge of her mentor's door frame. Her braided hair was still damp from bathing, but strands were already beginning to escape to frame her youthful face and sharp blue eyes. Standing at a middling height, her frame was lean within her voluminous blue robes, a physique sculpted by long hours spent on foot and horseback traveling the nearby provinces on assignment for the Order. And truth be told, she much preferred riding breeches to these stifling Order robes with their multiple layers and complex bindings—but proper attire was expected here.

Enter, came a robust voice from inside the room, and she stepped through the doorway with her usual easy smile. Her mentor, Heron, waved absently to her from behind a large wooden desk as he made notations in a leather-bound notebook. His black robes arranged themselves in folds about his heavyset body, the sleeves tied back from his wrists so as not to mar his carefully inked notes. Graying hair was combed neatly back from his face and captured in a leather tie at the nape of his neck. His round, slightly droopy face was creased in thought, and it was evident that a great many of those creases would remain throughout other changes of expression.

With a satisfied nod, Heron laid down his pen, leaving the notebook open to allow the perfectly-formed Telesh characters to dry. When he raised his eyes to meet hers, she saw in their dark, piercing gaze a hint of his namesake's resemblance that had faded from the rest of his form. Ah, yes, he said in a deep, sonorous voice, I'd heard you returned last night. I take it your mission was a success?

Calyx beamed at him. More than I ever expected, she replied. I wrote up my report on the journey back, but the most important thing is this. Producing a small bundle wrapped in white cloth from a pocket of her robe, she laid it on his desk and carefully unwrapped it.

Eyeing the strange, glassy stone before him, Heron took a quick glance back at Calyx's face before returning his gaze to the stone. And what is this? he rumbled, reaching a hand toward it.

"This, Calyx said triumphantly, was the cause of the disruption."

Heron snatched his hand back as if bitten, continuing the motion by pushing his chair back from the desk in alarm. Good Gods, Cally, what in the thirteen realms are you doing, bringing that here?! he roared. With all of the elemental energy in use by the Order, it could…could… Why don't I sense anything? Is this some elaborate joke one of your friends devised? His round face flushed, Heron glared accusingly at her as he stood and leaned his knuckles on the edge of his desk.

Calyx spread her palms wide. "Heron, I swear, there's no danger from it. And it's not a joke—that stone there was the focus of the most intense energetic disruption I've ever seen, or even heard of. And now it's a lump of rock with no magical signature to speak of."

That's impossible, Heron said flatly. "The twisted energy reported at that site can only be channeled, redirected, grounded—in a word, contained, not removed entirely. There's nothing wrong with this stone, and since I'd hate to think you're lying to me, you must be mistaken about it being the focus."

She paused before answering, the reproach in his voice barely registering as a faraway look stole across her face. It was incredible, Heron, she began, her voice hushed. Then she paused, flushing slightly as she dropped her eyes. I know I wasn't supposed to take action, but it had already spread so far, and there was no time to bring in a more senior mage.

Heron straightened, frowning. Calyx, what did you do?

Well, I was trying to do as you said, in the beginning—I created a conduit to ground the energy. It was so strong, she added, her voice shaking slightly, gripped in memory. The power was too much for me, and even though I had the conduit ready, something… It sparked, flashed over and hit me. I'm lucky that most of it went into the conduit, but I was out cold for hours, maybe more than a day.

Heron settled himself back in his chair, worn face creased with worry. I never should have agreed to send you alone, he muttered. It's a wonder you weren't killed. So the energy was gone from the stone when you woke? Never known that to happen, but…

No, Heron, that's just it, Calyx interrupted, her face breaking into an excited smile. "When I woke up, I had this…vision. I could see everything overlaid with a golden web of energy, and I could see where the disruption was—in the center of this stone—and I could fix it. I could fix it, Heron. Completely. That's why the stone is blank now. It was…sickening, twisted, corrosive of everything around it—and I fixed it. It's all in my report, all the details, but I had to show you the stone. If we can figure out what happened, we might be able to fix all of the disruptions in the Empire, maybe even fix whatever's causing them in the first place. Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of his expression. What? Heron? What is it?"

Her mentor's face was closed to her. Calyx, he began, his voice artificially level. Can you offer anything to support what you're saying? You are claiming to have done something that no one else has ever been able to do, to have seen something no one has ever recorded seeing. It is…hard to accept. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, but she hesitated before replying.

I… It… The vision faded, after I fixed the stone, Calyx explained, feeling her face warm as his guarded expression turned to disbelief. I haven't been able to call it up again—and the first time, it just appeared to me; I don't know where it came from. Heron, you have to believe me—the Order needs to investigate this. It could revolutionize everything we know!

Heron shook his head, brows drawing down now in consternation. I always appreciate your enthusiasm, Calyx, but you can't expect me to believe—without proof—that you somehow accomplished something that no one in the history of our Order has ever been able to do, something which, in fact, would be in direct violation of Kestrel's Law. Healing an energy disruption, just like that? While I'd like to believe it could be that easy…

It wasn't easy— Calyx broke in, but Heron continued over her.

While I'd like to believe it, he repeated emphatically, his tone displaying no such desire, I suspect your story is, at best, a result of the blow that knocked you unconscious. At best, you became confused and brought back a strange-looking stone, thinking you had fixed the problem. At worst... He shook his head again. You were only expected to confirm the danger, not fix it; there is no need to pretend that you were able to address a problem that you admit was too much for you. A problem that now has likely only grown worse and still threatens the people who asked for our help.

I… Heron, you know I wouldn't do anything like that, Calyx protested, her head spinning. By all the Gods, Heron, I—

Don't add blasphemy to your mistakes here today, Heron warned. Softening his expression, he sighed. I'm disappointed in you, Cally. How old are you now, twenty-four? You've had your blue robes for two years now, yet you come to me with this story that you know is flatly impossible. He held up a hand to forestall her protest. I will dispatch another mage to investigate the disruption in northern Harrow; after he reports back on the facts of the matter, we'll discuss this again. For now, you're to see a healer about that blow to the head. Once you're cleared, you can return to your studies, but don't expect another solo assignment until this is resolved.

Calyx drew in a breath to speak, then let it out again as Heron's expression closed still further. Reaching into another pocket of her robes, she withdrew a hard-shelled scroll case and pulled a closely-lettered sheet of parchment from it. My report, she said, her voice flat and controlled as she laid it on Heron's desk. Without meeting his eyes again, she turned and left the room.

He said that? Aster's arched brows drew in over light blue eyes. That doesn't sound like Heron, she added. She brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her right ear and cocked her head to the opposite side, waiting for her friend's response. The two mages sat in the Order's large eating hall, which was mostly deserted at this hour; behind Calyx, afternoon sun slanted through a high window and glinted from Aster's tiny gold Tyrreesian earrings, a small token she retained as a reminder of her distant home province.

Calyx nodded miserably. I don't know what to do, Aster. He acted like he thought I was either crazy or deliberately lying to him—and worse, that I had left people in danger by claiming to have fixed the problem. I just—he's always been a good mentor; I thought he'd be excited about my report. Shoulders slumping, she absently traced the edges of the leather-bound notebook on the table in front of her.

Aster slowly took a sip of tea. Replacing the cup on the table, she stared into it for a moment, then raised her eyes back to her friend. "What did happen to you out there? I know you already told me—I just want to understand, she added hurriedly as Calyx gave her a wounded look. Is there a chance you were hurt by what happened, and you might not have remembered things correctly?"

Wren found no sign of trauma, Calyx replied, shrugging. I went to see her after talking with Heron; he wanted me to see a healer, but she said I was fine. The incident happened a week ago now, she added grudgingly, and she said the signs might have faded—but I know what I saw, and I know what I did.

I know, Aster said gently. "It's just… Cally, you know as well as I do that Kestrel's Law dictates that what you saw couldn't happen—the energy can't just be gone from that stone. But Gods know you've always done better than I have in magical theory; how can you explain what you're saying?"

"I can't, Aster, that's why it's so exciting, Calyx replied, a light coming back into her eyes as she recalled the shimmering golden web. This is something different, something not in our theories at all. And—well, I only have the one instance to go by, but it seems to be better. The energy in that stone… It was too much power to safely handle by our usual methods, and as everyone keeps telling me, the most we can hope for with those methods is containment, anyway. But seeing the web, I could fix it completely; I could see the source of the disruption and heal it. You're a healer, Aster, she interrupted herself to say. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could just see the source of disease directly and fix it by unknotting the tangled strands, rather than risking the patient by applying extra energy?"

It would, Aster mused, taking another pensive sip of tea. "Applying the wrong energy, or the wrong amount, often makes a problem worse. But, Cally, our methods work, at least most of the time. How can our theories be wrong, or somehow missing this huge discovery you've made? And why hasn't anyone made it before now?"

Calyx sat back in her chair, tapping her index fingers lightly against the edge of the table as she thought. What if, she began slowly, raising her eyes to meet her friend's, "what if the methods we use are only the tip of the iceberg? What if when we channel the energies, we are using the web I saw, only we're going about it blindly? After all, the energy moved through its strands when I released it from the stone... So maybe all of the energetic effects we see and cause are really based on blind manipulation of the power in those strands, only we have to use crude methods found through trial and error."

Crude? Guess you've forgotten all the years we've spent studying. Aster smiled as she spoke, but the lightness in her voice sounded forced. Are you saying that's all worthless now?

Calyx's eyes regained their focus, widening in surprise at the tightness in her friend's voice. I'm just… Aster, I don't know what any of it means—I only want to find out. What if Kestrel's Law is wrong? What if other laws are wrong? Wouldn't you want to know?

Of course, Cally, Aster replied, her voice soothing and apologetic. But don't you think that would be something for the black-robes to find out? We're barely out of training—why would you be the one to discover something this momentous?

Frowning slightly, Calyx leaned forward across the table, fingers knotted together atop her book. Why not me? Maybe the black-robes are too stuck in their ways. Maybe Ramasthen gave me this vision Himself—I don't know. But if my lack of seniority is the only argument dismissing my claims, I can't accept that.

Aster sighed and sat back in her chair, leaning away from her friend's sudden fervor. Her usually cheerful face was guarded. I don't know what to say; now you're really starting to scare me, talking about God-sent visions. She grinned suddenly. Next you'll be telling me the Nerenii appeared to you in the hills!

Calyx leaned back again, forcing a smile. Yeah, she said. Guess it does sound crazy. She pushed back her chair to stand, picking her book up from the table.

Cally— Aster began, but Calyx held up a hand and shook her head.

It's ok, she said. I just have studying to do; I clearly don't understand Kestrel's Law, as everyone keeps telling me. She twitched one shoulder in a shrug. I'll talk to you later.

Chapter 3

Calyx stalked through the corridors, replying distractedly to the greetings of other blue-robed mages as she passed them. She did have studying to do—and now Heron had given her an exercise she was expected to complete by tomorrow. Life in the Order sometimes seemed like an endless sequence of rigorous examinations, punctuated by field assignments that could be even more rigorous. At this point in her career, she was able to focus on her chosen field of study—magical artifacts—but even this became tedious at times, especially when her mind was as decidedly elsewhere as it was at the moment.

Heron had called her back to his office, having read her report. He hadn't been any more convinced than earlier, but at least he had decided that she had been deluded rather than intentionally negligent. He had assigned her a supplemental assignment in hopes of convincing her of this fact.

Of course the exercise has to do with Kestrel's Law, she grumbled to herself. Her mental voice took on the lecturing tone of her mentor at his most bombastic. Clearly I have not understood it properly and must investigate it further in order to confirm its truth. Mages of the Afterii Order must continually train and study, to increase their own knowledge and that of the Order as a whole. Sometimes in order to do this, one must reinforce a previous teaching, to guard against flights of fancy taking hold. She snorted softly to herself, drawing a glance from an approaching junior mage.

Increasing knowledge means more than reinforcing the same accepted understanding over and over, doesn't it? she impulsively asked the yellow-robed young man, causing him to stop suddenly, his eyes darting nervously along the hallway in all directions.

Um, yes? Ma'am? he replied.

Yes. It does. She nodded crisply and continued down the hallway, leaving the young mage staring after her.

Shoulders still tense, Calyx followed the labyrinth of corridors toward a cluster of little rooms grouped together in their own wing of the building. They were designed for containing magical experiments and the examination of artifacts that might prove unstable; the rooms were magically shielded to prevent energy leakage, with thick stone walls to contain any physical effects and small, high windows to provide ventilation for particularly pungent alchemical recipes. Thanks to her regular study of magical artifacts, Calyx had one of these chambers assigned to her permanently.

When she finally reached it, she raised her right hand, focusing a quantity of her personal vital energy into her fingertips; fashioning the shape of a key, she touched it to the intricate sigil inscribed in the thick wooden door. A faint charge sparked from her fingers, and the door swung open. The magical ward across the entrance shimmered lightly in her sight; it was still present, but would now allow her to pass through.

Entering the room, she closed the heavy door behind her and placed her book, along with a box from her pocket, on the small, round table in the center of the chamber. Indirect sunlight filtered through the narrow window, providing only dim illumination, so she turned back toward the door, where a cast-iron sconce on the wall contained a trio of beeswax candles against a brightly-polished steel backplate. Breathing in deeply, she gathered fire energy from the sunlight, holding it steady within her energy field as she breathed in four more times to reach the vibrant number five. Shaping the fire energy thus gathered into a thin, bright tendril, she touched it to each of the candle wicks, bringing them alight and brightening the small room considerably.

It did nothing to brighten her spirits, however, and after releasing the fire energy back into the environment, Calyx sighed and dropped heavily into a chair, slouching unhappily against the backrest. Remedial work—I mean supplemental work, she thought acidly, is not what I need. What I need is for someone to believe me so we can start figuring out what happened instead of denying it was possible. She rubbed a hand over her face and back over her hair, shaking herself physically and mentally. But apparently that's not going to happen, she admitted. So I'd best get on with it.

Opening her notebook to a blank page to record her findings, Calyx mentally reviewed Kestrel's Law. Energy bound within an artifact may be shaped, contained, and directed, but never destroyed, she murmured aloud. Brightening, she smiled slightly. "So what happened with the web didn't really violate Kestrel's Law, she said slowly to herself. The energy was directed outward, back into the web, instead of staying bound up and stagnant in the knot at the center of the stone. I didn't destroy it, and I'm sure some energy—normal earth magic, at least—remained in the stone, just not the twisted energy that had been there before. Or rather, it became untwisted—so it was changed, but only as a consequence of flowing back into the web where it belonged... So what if our understanding of Kestrel's Law is related to the outer effects of such a change, where only the energy can be seen rather than the underlying web?"

Her excitement renewed, Calyx fumbled for pen and ink and began to write her insights down as quickly as she could. Heron would never accept them as an answer to the exercise, of course, but she still wanted to capture them for further thought. Perhaps there was a way she could convince others of the merits of her ideas using those more-visible outer effects—but there her thoughts ground to a halt. It might be possible to create an effect so striking that it would prove something beyond the ordinary was happening, but to do so, she would have to be working from the web herself; otherwise, Kestrel's Law apparently still held. And so far she hadn't been able to see the web again.

Placing the pen back into its stand, she eyed the small box sitting on the table. Well, I might as well do the exercise, and see if anything comes to mind while I'm supposed to be proving myself wrong.

She reached for the box, opening it to reveal a small figurine of a fish, tail curving and mouth gaping as if it had just leapt up from the surface of a pond. It was carved of blue-green stone, every scale rendered in intricate detail, and its dark eyes seemed alive. She only paused a moment to admire its outward form, however, before turning her attention to the energy structure inside.

Water energy was bound to it, and with her inner sight she could see this as an endless cascade bubbling up from the center of the artifact to run down the outer surface. Heron, always strongest with water magic, had told her he created the artifact specifically for this exercise, so its energy was strong and bright. Calyx turned the figurine around in her hands, letting the water energy spill over and around her fingers as she considered her approach to the exercise.

The challenge, simply enough, was to attempt the impossible and remove the energy bound to the artifact, leaving it completely bare or replaced by some other element. There wasn't really a question of strategy, Calyx thought, shaking her head—it truly did seem impossible using normal methods. She'd done this exercise before as a junior mage, and it didn't seem likely that she'd get a different result now, but she had to do something to show Heron that she took his assignment seriously. Along the way, she might as well try to make the pointless exercise more interesting for herself.

One way, she considered, resuming her habit of talking to herself when alone in the small chamber, is to fight water with fire. But I tried that last time, as I recall, so this time I'm going to try air. After all, air bubbles can displace water; maybe I can use the same principle.

Bringing her attention to the air surrounding her, Calyx began to breathe rhythmically. Eight breaths were needed to fully manifest air energy in her own energetic field, and she could feel its presence grow with each breath. Drawing in elemental energy in this way was more time-consuming than using her personal energy, which could be accessed instantly, but it was much safer as well. It was too easy to drain too much of her own vital energy, which could cause permanent damage both to her physical body and to her ability to work magic; it had even been known to cause death on occasion. But it was the slow speed of access to elemental energies that led to the creation of artifacts; the energy bound to them was instantly accessible to those with the proper training.

Calyx finished her eighth breath, air energy swirling and gusting around her. Carefully shaping part of it into a hollow tube, she brought the end of it close to the stone fish and began to see the water energy parting around the end of the tube, as if blown out of position. Moving slowly, she slid the end of the tube closer, until it was first touching, and then penetrating the surface of the figurine. The water energy was bubbling now, emerging from the fish's mouth in a white froth that quickened as she allowed more air energy to blow through the tube. The water continued to circulate and permeate the small fish, but it was becoming more and more mixed with air, so that it began to look like mist rather than a cascading fountain. At her level, she could only create minor bindings, but she went ahead and did so, reaching out a thin tendril of her personal energy to create a small anchor for the air energy at the center of the figurine.

Easing up on the flow, she examined the mixture closely. The water was still there, of course, although she had succeeded in blending it with air. The ability to add energy to an artifact was not in question here, however, only the ability to eradicate the previous type. Letting the excess air energy bleed back into the room—a light wind riffled the edges of her notebook and tickled the nape of her neck—Calyx rolled her eyes at the futility of the assignment. It was a gesture of condescension to be given such a task at her age, and… She shook her head, letting go of her offended pride. It was just an exercise, and at least its simplicity was somewhat soothing. Plus, she always enjoyed exploring other mages' artifacts, and Heron made nice ones.

Struck by an idea as she recorded her lack of progress, she finished her notes in a scribble and contemplated the stone fish once more. Now that she had changed the balance of energy, if not the water energy itself, it might be interesting to contact it with a new flow of water. That might provide further insight into what exactly had changed with the introduction of air into the system.

Beginning to breathe deeply once more, Calyx focused on the invisible presence of water droplets in the air. Seven was the number for water, each breath building like a wave inside her aura until it crested and she felt fully saturated with its energy. But as she extended a watery tendril toward the stone fish, an unexpected sensation of vertigo nearly knocked her from the chair; struggling to maintain both her balance and her control of the water, she closed her eyes briefly to center herself. When her senses came back into equilibrium, she opened her eyes again to find that the room had changed.

Shimmering golden strands once again overlay everything in her vision. Catching her breath in surprise, Calyx slowly allowed the water energy she was holding to evaporate back into the air; delighted, she could see it travel as a blue-green tinge in the strands attached to her, dissipating into the web. Holding up a hand, she watched as strands shifted, melted and formed in endless combinations, connecting her to everything in the room. Some strands even seemed to pass through the walls, and she wondered what complexities she would see if she were in a room full of people, or surrounded by artifacts, or anywhere more interesting than this small, barren chamber.

Captivated by the idea, she turned her gaze to the artifact on the table before her. It shone brightly, the ends of the strands closest to it tinged with blue-green and pale yellow, the colors shifting and blending together. Focusing her attention past the surface strands, she found she could trace them to their roots at the center of the artifact, where the water and air energies were bound. Tangled, knotted strands of corpse blue and jaundiced yellow pulsed there, writhing and coiling as if trying to free themselves. A cold, sinking feeling swept through her as she realized what she was seeing.

Inside the artifact was a knot of corruption. As she watched, the tainted colors were beginning to spread outward into the cleaner blue-green and yellow of the elemental energies, and it was clear that eventually the entire artifact would be poisoned. The strands bound here were not nearly powerful enough to become as malevolent as those in the black stone she had found in the Simashans, but the taint within them was essentially the same.

Head spinning, Calyx took a deep breath to calm her racing heart; she had to fix this before the web faded again. Reaching out with shaking hands and determined mind, she tugged gently at the tangled threads, shuddering inwardly at the touch of the fetid energy within them. The air strands floated free first, having only just been added to the older tangle of water strands. The latter loosened grudgingly, finally yielding to her persistent plucking with an inaudible splash that sent the water energy flowing back into the web. Leaning back in her chair as her muscles went slack with relief, Calyx watched the vision of that web—now golden and whole where it flowed through the stone fish—fade from her sight. Once it was gone, there was no longer any trace of elemental energy attached to the figurine.

Her thoughts whirled. Heron said he had only created the artifact this morning. If that was true, then it was his—and later, her own—binding of energy to the artifact that had created the diseased knot. Or rather, she corrected herself with a sick feeling in her stomach, the diseased knot was the binding they had created. Pushing her chair back with a growing sense of alarm, Calyx caught up her things from the table, blew out the candles, and hurried from the room in search of Heron.

Finding his office door closed, Calyx paused to settle her breathing. He'll have to believe me now, she thought, turning the fish figurine over and over in her fingers. Which is good, because what I have to tell him now is even more important—and maybe also more unbelievable—than the last news I gave him. Her fingers tightened around the fish as she took a last deep breath and knocked firmly on the closed door.

To her surprise, Heron opened the door himself, and she caught a glimpse of other black-robed figures in the room behind him. Oh, he said almost absently, glancing past her into the hallway. Now is not a good time, I'm afraid. Perhaps—

Heron, I'm sorry, but I found something you need to know about, Calyx broke in, her words spilling out in a rush. Well—here, she said, thrusting the fish into his hands. It's clean—no water energy at all. I know it's not supposed to be possible, she continued, but that's not even the important part. Not the most important part, anyway. When I saw the web again—which is how I cleared it of water energy—the binding—

Calyx, Heron finally broke in. He paid scant attention to the stone fish now clenched in his fist, and barely seemed to hear what she was saying. "I don't know what you're playing at, but now is not the time. I am in a conference at the moment, and we are expecting Eldest Ivy to join us shortly. I will not permit you to pester the head of the Order with your wild claims, especially not now."

At her look of stubborn persistence, he sighed and lowered his voice. You and I can talk about this later, and— He broke off as he finally looked closely at the figurine in his hand, recognizing it. Incredible, he murmured, then raised his eyes back to hers. But it still has to wait. Come back to my office early tomorrow morning, and we'll discuss the exercise I gave you. With an apologetic but distracted smile, he closed the door on her indrawn breath.

Perplexed, Calyx stared at the door. If the Eldest was due to arrive soon, she supposed she should leave; while the idea of bringing her discoveries directly to the head of the Order had a certain appeal, it would be a severe breach of protocol that would more likely hurt her cause than further it. But Heron was the one she was supposed to bring them to, and he wasn't listening. Frowning, she set off down the corridor toward the mages' quarters, blue robes swirling with her long strides.

As she walked, she contemplated the emergence of her most recent vision. The web had appeared to her once she had begun exploring the water artifact using water energy herself—so perhaps it was the resonance of similar energies that had brought it to the fore? Similarly, when she had moved the conduit of earth energy toward the black stone in the Simashans, it resonated—to the point of exploding, she recalled with a wince—with what must have been twisted earth energy within the stone. Perhaps the web was most likely to appear when such a resonance was created?

Her brow creased in thought, she shook her head slightly. None of that explains why no one has seen it before, she sighed. It has to be more than a simple application of similar energy. What else is going on here?

Turning down a narrower hallway, she made her way to Aster's room. She slowed as she drew within view of it, trying to put on a cheerful smile. Half succeeding, she knocked on the frame of her friend's open door, peering in to find her poring through a thick healer's tome.

Aster looked up at the knock, her own welcoming smile slipping only slightly. Cally, hi, she greeted, sitting back a little from the book she was studying. Waving her friend toward the edge of her carefully-made bed, she ducked her head ruefully. Listen, I didn't mean to be rude earlier, and I didn't want to make you feel bad. I just—

It's ok, Aster, Calyx interrupted with a shake of her head. She accepted the proffered seat on the bed, sitting upright with both hands resting on the notebook in her blue-robed lap. What I said was pretty hard to believe, and maybe I expected too much to be accepted on faith. But, if you have some time, I want to run some ideas past you, from something that happened this afternoon. Can you spare a few minutes, or do you have to keep studying?

Aster rolled her eyes in exaggerated frustration and closed the book in front of her with a thud. I am only too happy to take a break from this! she answered with a lopsided smile. People think magical healing is quick and easy, but the learning of it sure isn't. Do you realize how many blood vessels there are in the body, any of which could be completely disrupted by the application of energy meant to heal a disease carried within them? Far from sounding impatient with her studies, her voice carried excitement and wonder. Calyx smiled.

And you probably have names for all of them, don't you? she teased. And names for all the different ways they can carry energy, and the different energy formations you can use to alter them, and…

Of course, Aster interrupted, laughing. Why do you think this book is so thick? And this is just volume three—of twelve. I sure could use a glimpse of that web you were talking about, if it works the way you said. Her voice, though still light, carried a note of apology for her earlier treatment of Calyx's claims.

At the mention of the web, Calyx leaned forward, elbows on her knees. That's just what I want to talk to you about, she began, her voice growing hushed. I saw it again, Aster. Heron gave me an assignment to test Kestrel's Law, to 'reinforce my understanding of it.'

The same one we tried years ago, in training? Aster asked.

Exactly, Calyx said. Heron gave me an artifact, a fish figurine holding water energy, that he said he'd just created today for me to experiment on. I was supposed to try removing the energy bound to it—which is impossible according to Kestrel's Law, right? At her friend's answering nod, she continued. "I