I stared at the trees stretching above me as Nyx’s words echoed in my ears. I called you Ghostfire because that’s what the Harbinger had said your name was. This implied that the Harbinger had sent Nyx to kill me. This was as good as confirmed when she tried to cover up her shock when I said as much.
If the Harbinger had forced Nyx to kill me, then it was possible that she was as much a victim as I was, but that was a lot of assumptions to make. Thousands of questions whirred through my brain, but one was at the forefront: why? If the Harbinger wanted me dead, and I still wasn’t convinced that he did, why did he want me dead? I racked my brain for anything I could have done to warrant someone wanting me dead, but came up empty.
I had other problems to deal with as well. Taanyth had made it clear that he and the other elves expected me to be the answer to their problems, starting with the Alok. I didn’t even know where to begin. If I somehow managed to defeat the Alok, then it sounded as though the elves would allow me to stay with them, but if not, I was worried I would be forced out into the forest with no protection. Even if I stopped the Alok, it didn’t sound as though it would stop there. I would be expected to deal with many more dangers facing the elves.
I ran a hand through my hair, a habit I had when I was stressed. I had a murderous alchemist, a hooded figure who might have betrayed me, and a supernatural abductor to deal with. I had no one to turn to and no idea of how to fix any of my problems.
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I trudged up the stairs of the tree Nyx was being held in. At last, I’d resolved to tell Taanyth everything. That the Harbinger had told me to find him for a reason I didn’t know. That I had no idea how to find the Alok, much less stop it. I was about to enter the room when I heard Nyx and Taanyth’s voices coming from within the wooden chamber.
“...What are you doing on my world?” Taanyth asked.
“Your world?” Nyx replied. “That’s big talk from an elf who I’m quite sure spent the last few hours thawing.”
“This world is under my protection,” he clarified. “I can’t pretend that I’m able to defend it on my own, but I do my best. And you’re a threat to its well-being, as you have shown. Which leads me back to my question: what are you doing on my world?”
“Look,” Nyx said, sounding as casual as one can when strapped to a chair. “I don’t want to be here any more than you want me to. In fact, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. But, you see, the Harbinger sent me.”
At the sound of the name, I peeked around the edge of the door. Taanyth seemed engaged with Nyx, who was doing an excellent job of appearing languid in a restraining chair. Her eyes flicked in my direction, and a ghost of a smile touched her lips, but then it returned to Taanyth. I ducked out of view, but I knew the damage had been done.
“The Harbinger?” Taanyth asked.
“Oh, Corso hasn’t told you?” Nyx said. “No, I don’t want to be here. As I’m sure your resident human has guessed, the Harbinger sent me to kill him, and I’d guess the pyromancer knows more about him than I do.”
Taanyth took a moment of silence to process this. “Then why are you still here? Why haven’t you Flickered off the world? The attack failed. What can be gained by staying?”
“Well, for starters, we can make sure our young eavesdropper has lots of questions.” My heart skipped a beat. I knew I’d been caught.
I stepped into the doorway. Taanyth raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“So, let’s see,” Nyx said. “In the last few minutes, we’ve implied that there’s a multiverse, and I’ve outright stated that the Harbinger, who you know, wants to kill you. Also, your pointy-eared friend has decided to be pretty possessive about this particular world. I’m sure you’re curious as to what it all means.”
“I’ll answer all of your questions,” Taanyth said. “But not right now.”
“No,” said Nyx from behind him. “Now. You’re going to answer all of Corso’s questions or I’ll leave the world and none of your questions will be answered.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why do you want my questions answered?” Nyx had been unwilling to give me any information just moments ago. Now she was refusing to answer any of the questions Taanyth posed until mine were answered.
The Alchemist smirked at me. “Because I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m not the only Flicker in the room.”
“Would anyone like to explain to me what all of this means?” I shouted. Nyx and Taanyth’s conversation had left me clueless, and I was worried that if I let the two continue to talk, I would never get any answers.
Taanyth sighed. Nyx’s smug smirk stretched wider. “I suppose,” Taanyth said. “You’ll have to know about the Myriad.”
“What’s that?” I asked, relieved that I was receiving answers.
“It’s the multiverse,” he explained. “It-”
A vague, uncertain memory sharpened to extreme clarity. “You mean.... multiple universes?” I asked, a bit dazed.
“Yes.” The elf glanced at Nyx. Taanyth looked intrigued, but the Alchemist looked triumphant. “Do you know something?”
“I….I think so,” I said. “When Nyx attacked me-”
“You Ascended, didn’t you?” she said.
“I did what?”
“Flickers travel between worlds,” she said, speaking fast so she could get to the important part. “But not everyone can do it. Flickers are very rare. You need to have magic. And you need to have a near-death or dangerous or traumatic experience called Ascension. In this case, I almost killed you. That was your Ascension. Ascension triggers your ability to Flicker and sometimes your magic. When I shot a fireball at you, it sparked an instinct in you to defend yourself with magic. But it also did something else: you Ascended.
“So, Ghostfire. Many of your questions have been answered. Tell me about our mutual friend, the Harbinger.”
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