Half Magic | Book 2

Forty Six: A Black Night

"Have a good night then, Captain," Nassir said. "Hopefully tomorrow ends with us in an alliance, and not with you escorting us from the city."

Teyber shrugged, his mouth a grim line. "Time will tell, but unless the whole council has turned to fools, they will want to keep you here in an exchange of information."

"Good night, Teyber," Schula said, waving.

"Don't stay up too late," he said, and made his way through the doorway.

I didn't bother lying and saying we would go to bed soon. We all knew that probably wasn't going to happen, and I turned back down to my book.

More time passed after Teyber left us. One of us would yawn, and the others would follow suit. A few of the candles went out completely, and none of us bothered to re-light them. More yawns. At one point, my eyes were so sore that I set Lark's book down for a moment so I could rest my eyes.

They were so heavy, after all.

It felt so good to shut them. Just for a moment.

Just... for... a...

~

The darkness was warm and inviting. I was inside a heartbeat. A steady breath. A warm embrace. Comfort, that's what I took from this. Somewhere in my head I knew it was the same energy that stirred me before. The thing that wanted me to find it, only I didn't know what it was or where to look. But it was becoming familiar. Comfortable. And it was easy for me to be lulled by it, just letting myself drift in the nothingness with it.

Eventually, I could tell I wasn't alone. Something white, and cool, and comfortable was nearby as well. What was that? I knew it, I knew what it was but I couldn't quite remember.

Experimentally, I reached out to it. I somewhat noticed that I was a purple light. Somewhat shapeless but a piece of me still reached out to the white thing. It stirred. I think I startled it, but when it took a better look at me, it reached out too. And when the white thing touched me...

Schula. This was Schula, my beloved friend. A piece of me. My triquetram.

The realization hit her too, because suddenly we pressed close, clinging to each other.

We floated there in silence, just sitting in the vastness of the black presence. It felt like hours of just floating, existing with it. It didn't seem to interact with us, it just stayed as it was. A soft breath. A pulse. Something alive, and calm.

"Schula," I said eventually. "What is this?"

She took her time answering. "I don't know."

More silence between us. Not an uncomfortable one, but it felt like it took some time to think here. Eventually, we came up with more to say, or rather think, since that's what it felt like we were doing to communicate.

"Excuse me," Schula prodded at the blackness. "What... are you?"

Then, the stirring happened. There was no real up or down or sideways, but somehow it felt like everything moved all at once anyway. I felt tumbled around, spun off balance. The thing was moving.

A feeling brushed by us. Warm and hard, like a thousand smooth stones, and all we could do while rolling down the stones was try to hold onto each other so we didn't get separated. This went on for a moment, and then something surprising lit up the blackness.

Fire. Blazing fire, orange and white. The hottest fire I had ever felt, and it was a shapeless ball of flames before us that towered over the little lights that were me and Schula. It was enormous.