Isolde’s face was ashen, visible even in the eerie light. Her expression was one of sheer terror, her eyes glued to the slab.
“What is that?” Felix asked, although he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. He inched closer, positioning himself between Isolde and the thing. Whatever it was, something about it was not right. A few more steps and he was next to it, tentatively reaching forward. Up close, the surrounding air all but vibrated with tension. The pulsing of the silvery thread picked up speed.
Then Felix spotted it. A foot sticking out of the rags. An emaciated, filthy foot. Running across it, unmistakably, was a ley marking. He reached out and pulled the fabric aside.
“It’s a person,” Isolde whispered from behind him, her voice hoarse. Her fingers dug clawlike into Felix’s arm. “A leytouched.”
She was right. It was a person, or what was left of them. A wasted, pathetic shell of a human, lying on the slab in a foetal position. The figure was hairless, and so thin their face seemed to droop off their skull like washing hung out to dry. Around their neck was a metal chain set with Aetherglass crystals, grotesquely large and heavy on someone so frail. The skin under the chain was a ruin of flesh, showing layer upon layer of old burn scars and fresh welts. Only the ley lines on their body looked unmarred, glowing faintly.
“What the fuck is this?” Felix blurted out. “Who is this? Who killed him? What the hell happened?”
Isolde still clutched his arm. Her lips pressed together in a thin line, and with narrowed eyes she studied the silver thread of light that pulsed between the leytouched on the slab and the suspended Arcaenum.
“I don’t think he is dead.”
Her voice shook, but when Felix glanced at her, he realised it was anger that caused it, not fear.
“This is how they did it. This is what binds the Arcaenum. The life force of a leytouched.” She swallowed hard. “This is what they plan to do to me.”
Felix reeled, staggering under the weight of the realisation. They weren’t just going to kill her. They were going to use her. To chain her to this place, to bind her to a god and drain her of everything she was. Until she was nothing but a husk, a breathing corpse.
Never. He would rather cut her throat himself.
If it comes to that… If there is no other way…
Had her father known? No. It was a coincidence. It had to be.
Isolde swept her gaze around the chamber. “All these slabs… Once there must have been many. But he is the last. The last leytouched to maintain this binding. That is why they need me, why Kaeloth made all this effort. They’re running out of time…” Her voice trailed off.
A tiny sound, like the skittering of a mouse, broke the silence. Both of them jerked toward the slab. The leytouched stirred. A tremor ran through the frail body, fingers twitching against the stone.
The eyes snapped open. They were glowing blue, entirely consumed by magic. They no longer had pupils or irises, yet there was no doubt they were looking straight at Isolde. One skeletal hand slowly extended outward, reaching for her.
“Isa, don’t –”
Isolde ignored him. She took a step forward. Felix grabbed her arm. She startled, then tried to pull free.
“But you don’t know –”
She gritted her teeth and threw him her fiercest look.
“He has been here for alifetime,Felix! Alone. Abandoned. Tortured! The very least we can do is listen.”
Then, with one hand, she clutched onto Felix’s wrist. With the other, she slowly, carefully entwined her fingers with those of the last leytouched.
***
They stood in the middle of the plaza, but the Nexus was entirely different.
The place was alive. Banners Felix did not recognise lined the stairways. Groups of people milled around; scholars, soldiers in strange armour, merchants and tradespeople. The air shimmered with the presence of magic, but it was not erratic or fractured. It was comforting, grounding, like the stone beneath their feet.
Beside him, Isolde stood frozen, her eyes wide with wonder. None of the people around took any notice of them, and Felix had the disorienting sensation that his hand would pass straight through anything he tried to touch.
A couple walked past, their hands entwined, deep in conversation. Their strides were purposeful and confident. One was a woman wearing a long coat reinforced with silvery plates of metal. A curved blue sword was strapped to her back. Aweapon made of Aetherglass? He’d never heard of such a thing. At her side was a dark-skinned woman in robes, ley markings evident on her skin. A leytouched, walking freely through the crowds.
Felix stared after them. They passed a group of scholars who smiled at them in passing, some bowing their heads in greeting. Nobody shied away from the so obviously marked woman, or otherwise seemed to fear her. She looked, for all intents and purposes, like a respected member of the community.
As quickly as they had appeared, the surroundings changed. They were still in the plaza, but the air was no longer peaceful. It was thick with tension, and scorch marks covered the stairs and buildings. There were far fewer people around, and those who were looked dishevelled and anxious. The tradespeople were gone, and makeshift barricades formed a blockade at the top of the grand causeway, guarded by several warriors wearing the same long coats as the woman from before. They all sported the same worried expressions, dark circles under the eyes, and deep frowns creasing their brows.
