[Severed Divinity] 78. Phantom

Yura Corasin didn’t fully understand the level of control Lumina had over the city. The queen could clearly see things happening by tapping into some grand spell that covered all of Eldrassin. Probably part of the system leveraged by the police.

Lumina had always been a paragon of magic and scholarship, someone who delegated administrating the city to lower tiered experts. Yura had never seen this side of Lumina before, one directly involved in the city’s affairs, and the queen was close-lipped regarding the limitations of her influence.

Yura didn’t hold it against her—betrayal could come from any direction.

The Corasin leader paced the narrow corridor of the safe house. This one was in the primary level, with elegant furnishings and linens. Probably some profligate elven criminal’s confiscated residence, put to new purpose under the queen’s authority.

They hated how the floor squeaked under their weight, sensitive to the lightest step.

“Yura,” Lumina Eldrassin said, her unfamiliar eyes flashing with some inscrutable emotion. “They’ve entered the palace. Allezin and Isen.”

Yura froze. Lumina’s flame burned bright, slowly circling their shoulders. “I thought Allezin was hunting the phantom.” The working name for a mysterious, stealthy individual who evaded Lumina’s detection. They only knew the phantom existed because Allezin could sense them in person, and they were often present, spectating brief and violent confrontations between Dray and the Aran Empire.

“This is more important,” Lumina replied. Her girlish voice was at odds with her grave tone. “They’re pursuing Welco the Haunt.”

Yura shot the returned queen a dubious look. “Welco chose tonight to use the cosmovault? He hasn’t even had it in his possession for a full day.” Then again, it was so very like Welco to move quickly out of caution, like a flighty prey animal.

Lumina raised an eyebrow. “He understands the stakes, and the power of the cosmovault. Is it really so surprising? Though I’ll admit, I had assumed he’d wait at least another day to prepare.”

Yura’s brow furrowed. Since they were stuck physically accompanying the queen, Allezin was their primary vector of acting in the world. Yura’s clan wasn’t weak by any means—fire mages were lauded in combat—but they lacked the subtlety needed to evade conflicts between higher tiereds. “We can’t afford to have Allezin’s focus split.”

“It isn’t split,” Lumina retorted. “He’s focused solely on the palace.”

“I’m too tired to engage in wordplay. It seems unwise to send Allezin off on different tasks, redirecting him before he can complete them.”

“Perhaps. I can always go myself.”

“It’s unsafe for you to leave and act on your own.”

The queen blinked. “Unsafe...” She trailed off, then snorted. “My only concern is the flame, and I trust you to guard it with your life.”

“It is my honor to do so,” Yura said quickly, approaching the queen. The girl’s eyes were cold, a familiar iciness. “You know I’ll do anything you ask.”

“I know, Yura.”

Yura turned away. They were inexplicably reminded of the last time they’d seen the queen before her demise. Powerful, vivacious, obsessed.

“We should be sufficient to investigate the phantom,” Lumina continued. “It’s not Devon Aran and it certainly isn’t Dray’s divine monster.”

Yura considered the queen’s words. The Corasin head yearned to be actively involved in the monumental events at hand, but had a bad feeling about the brewing storm. “Respectfully—”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Lumina said. “Whoever this is... they are dangerous, and I suspect represent another unknown group.”

“They could just be an independent cultivator or mage,” Yura said.

“We both know that’s unlikely. Opportunistic independents have mostly caught wind of the true monsters and departed.” Lumina stood from her seat. “Let’s take a walk in the lower level.”

Yura’s lips pressed together. The ominous feeling refused to abate. “What if it’s an independent tier four?”

“Then this powder keg of a city is going to explode much sooner than anticipated,” Lumina replied, brushing off Yura’s concern. “Nobody wants to break the detente, much less an independent, even if they are tier four. They’ll wait for the other powers to show themselves first before making a move.”

Yura recognized when the queen’s mind was set. “Very well.”

Yura popped the divine flame into their mouth, condensing it down to a tiny ember, perfectly hidden from the outside. Now, the only way to extinguish the flame was to kill or incapacitate the tier three mage, preventing them from manipulating fire.

Lumina and Yura donned inconspicuous vestments—Yura leaving their tier three pin behind, currently unenforceable consequences be damned—and entered the streets.

***

Lumina’s control over the surveillance spell guided them into the lower district. They retraced steps around the falls where they knew Dray agents had entered the city. They still lacked information on how others—namely, Aranites—got in. Groups of higher tiered humans entering Eldrassin would be impossible to ignore.

They exited the lower level, heading up. There was a shortcut that skirted around the palace, though it required special authorization to access, authorization that the Corasin leader possessed. As they took a lift up through the white rock and appeared on the edge of the palace grounds, Lumina blanched.

“There’s... something amiss,” Lumina said. “Something I couldn’t sense from afar. The phantom is nearby.”

“I don’t sense them,” Yura murmured, Lumina’s flame glowing from behind their teeth, giving them a sinister countenance. Most mages were scholars first, combatants second. In Yura’s case, the insights that enabled their tier three investiture came from grueling combat in forbidden zones.

“They’re inside the palace,” Lumina replied. “I sense their aura from here.”

Yura frowned. They didn’t know how that was possible, unless Lumina had retained more tier four abilities than she’d let on.

“Should we engage?” Yura’s instinct was to leave the phantom to Allezin and Welco and get the queen somewhere safe. The potential threat would have the advantage in a confrontation since Allezin was unreachable within the palace’s enchantments and couldn’t be warned. Still, Yura recognized the queen thought highly of Allezin’s abilities, and Welco was a slippery bastard—Yura wasn’t worried for him at all.

The queen’s eyes glowed with cold fury. “I recognize this person’s aura,” she said. The hate in her words was palpable.

Devon Aran was the only threat Yura could think of that might incite such a reaction. But if Aran was in the palace, all was lost—and they should retreat immediately.

Rather than retreat, Lumina took a step forward.

“This is someone only I can handle,” the queen said. Her body looked so frail, so innocent under the moonlight. Her gaze was sharper than a sword. “I’ll have one chance to end this, and only when the shot becomes clear—when the exterior palace doors open.”

Yura heard what the queen didn’t say. Whoever this was was either a tier three strong enough to contend with weak tier fours—which was extraordinarily rare, but possible—or a tier four. Regardless, they would be too powerful for Allezin or Welco to handle, much less a tier two boy like Isen.

For the enemy to exit the palace and fall into the queen’s ambush... Well, they’d probably only do so after accomplishing their objective. And this time, Yura got the sense the phantom wasn’t present as an observer.

They’d leave only after the queen’s best pieces were dead.

Yura knew the queen would never leave, not when a hated enemy was in her crosshairs. If Lumina said she had one chance to end her foe, then she meant it. If she missed it, she risked death. True death. And she’d take Yura with her.

Yura’s eyes glowed crimson in stark contrast to the blue green fire behind their teeth. “Tell me what you need me to do.”