Fortress Al-Mir

“It is quite simple,” Priscilla said, giving Leda a light push against her back. “Just reach out and take it. Push a little magic into it—”

“I don’t have magic. No fairy does.”

“You have magic from your contract with Arkk. That will work for this.”

Leda looked away from the shadowy orb that hovered above a narrow pedestal and looked at the dragonoid woman. “Why can’t you do this?”

“I said why,” Priscilla said with a bit of impatience leaking into her voice. “I can’t without killing myself, you, and anything else in sight. I want to. You don’t know how much I wish I could. But I can’t.”

“But—”

“This is what you want. It is a magical artifact that amplifies magic. And it will feed that magic back to you. Perhaps you’ll even regain proper flight. At the very least, you’ll be able to teleport around like Arkk does—even in Arkk’s territory as long as you don’t cut your contract with him. Now,” Priscilla took hold of Leda’s shoulders, digging her icy claws into Leda’s skin just enough to make the fairy wince. With a light shove that nevertheless sent Leda sailing toward the orb, Priscilla continued, “Activate it.”

Leda didn’t mean to, but the shove was enough to make her bump right into the orb. A spark jumped from her arm to the orb, a little burst of unintentional magic quickly spreading throughout channels and pathways built into the orb. It was like a large, spherical ritual circle.

Leda tried to pull away. The orb pulled at her magic, siphoning it from where her arm touched its cold surface. But she couldn’t free herself. It was as if some heavy vice had clamped down around her wrist, pinning her to the orb. She tried to wrench her whole body away, only for Priscilla to keep her firmly in place.

The temperature plummeted. It felt like ice against her arm, spreading both up to her shoulder and down to her fingertips. Leda let out a yelp as the chill reached up her neck.

A great thump resounded from the sphere. It moved, pulsing like a beating heart. That slight movement freed Leda from its grasp, sending her cartwheeling through the air. Leda’s wings beat furiously, barely keeping her from slamming into the wall of the chamber.

Priscilla looked up to her with a grin that showed off her sharp teeth. Leda wasn’t sure how she was staring at the right spot. So many times when Priscilla spoke, she wouldn’t quite look in the right spot. But now, Priscilla’s head was angled perfectly toward Leda.

Leda drifted higher in the room, keeping well out of reach while rubbing the numbness out of her arm. It was only when she started feeling her fingers again that Leda realized she was up near the domed ceiling of the room, far higher than fairies could normally hover. The shock of it jolted her out of her rhythm, sending her spiraling back down to the floor.

Priscilla caught her before she could hit the ground, using just a single hand around Leda’s waist.

Something had changed with Priscilla. The normally white-blue ice that covered her eyes and much of her scales was tinged with red. Not blood. It was almost like someone had lit a fire in the room. In fact, looking around, Leda found the rest of the room changed as well. Everywhere she looked, a faint red hue coated everything.

“Success? Excellent. I wasn’t sure if a fairy would be able to contact with a Heart.”

“You weren’t… But you said—”

“Yes, yes. I say a lot of things. Not all of them are true. Close your eyes and try to feel the tower. We need to shut it down so that you can remove the Heart. Then we can get back.”

“Feel the tower? That doesn’t make any sense. How am I supposed… to…”

As soon as Leda thought about it, the entirety of the tower unfolded in front of her. It was like she could see every part of it at once. Even in the part where she was, she could see herself as Priscilla gently lowered her to the ground. It wasn’t as big a tower as the one that had been perched out near the portal entrance or the tower Arkk had constructed back in the regular world, but it still had enough floors that Leda started to feel dizzy as she tried to think about it all.

“Good,” Priscilla said, making Leda focus directly on the sharp teeth in her mouth. “Just listen to what I say. I won’t lead you wrong.”

“You just said you lie a lot.”

“Only when it benefits me. Now, first, let’s make sure this tower won’t topple with us inside when we remove the Heart…”

“Slave Natum is the spell I use,” Arkk said, demonstrating with a wave of his hand. One of those mounds of oily black flesh and far, far too many eyes dragged itself into existence at his side.

Leda shuddered. They weren’t a common sight around populated areas of Fortress Al-Mir and she was glad for that. Neither Arkk nor Priscilla looked visibly upset at its existence. Of course, Arkk was the one who summoned them and Priscilla couldn’t actually see them.

Leda shuddered again. “I have to conjure one of those?” she said, trying not to sound like she was whining.

When Arkk had rescued her from the Duke’s dungeons months ago now, Leda hadn’t thought anything would come of it. Finding out she could cast some small amount of magic had been wonderous. Being thrust into a war had been the opposite. Being assigned the chief minder of the blind dragonoid ranked somewhere in between.

Now she had gotten her hands on a powerful magical artifact the likes of which only three were known to exist. And two belonged to Arkk. He wasn’t trying to take this third one from her—which Leda wasn’t sure how she felt about. She could break the contract with it. Apparently without even ending up like Priscilla—who had broken far more than just her contract in trying to extract every iota of power the Hearts possessed. But now…

Leda had somehow gotten herself a promotion from dragonoid minder to some kind of sub-commander of Arkk’s free company.

Another thing she wasn’t sure about.

But uncertainties aside, the power of the orb was… somewhat intoxicating. She could feel the magic swirling about within her as she repeated the incantation. It burst forth from her fingertips, forcing reality to align with her intentions of summoning a servant to help her manage her new position.

She recoiled as she felt that coalesced magic approach her, only for her revulsion to turn to curiosity as she noticed the form of the servant.

It wasn’t one of those oily monsters that Arkk summoned. Rather, it was some kind of… hollow being. Transparent and barely visible, but roughly humanoid.

Leda looked up to find Arkk just as confused as she was. Priscilla’s expression hadn’t changed. She probably couldn’t tell the difference without touching them.

Vezta, however, leaned forward. Her glowing yellow eyes, set across her entire body, analyzed the new form in mere moments. “An adequate servant,” she said, “it will be able to carry out the necessary tasks, even if it isn’t as capable as my kin.”

“Why does it look like that?” Arkk asked. “Did something go wrong?”

“No. It is simply a [HEART] gifted from the Cloak of Shadows. The servants it allows will align more to the preferences of Lady Shadows than the beings from the [STARS] that Xel’atriss, Lock and Key prefers.”

“I still summon… uh… normal lesser servants even after taking over the new Heart,” Arkk said with a clear question in his tone.

“Al-Mir’s heart is far stronger than that of a walking fortress. It takes precedence. In any case, it is nothing to worry about. They may not be able to dig well, but that shouldn’t matter for her purposes. They’ll build and maintain a tower just as well as anything else.” Vezta paused, turning her yellow eyes to Leda. “There are only two problems.”

Leda shrank down, drawing her wings tight behind her back. She didn’t like the look the monstrous woman was giving her.

“The first is one of trustworthiness.”

Leda winced at Vezta’s tone, only to be surprised when Arkk stepped between them.

“Leda hasn’t done anything to make me think I can’t trust her.”

“Ah, but the fairy has lacked any sort of power until now. And,” Vezta continued, shifting several of her eyes to Priscilla while still keeping a close watch on Leda. “We all know how hard power is to resist. Don’t we, former contractor?”

Priscilla snarled, gnashing her teeth. That forced Arkk to move between Vezta and the angry dragonoid. A brave move, considering Priscilla could snap his outstretched arms as easily as Leda could break a tiny twig.

“That’s enough,” Arkk said, eyes blazing red.

Vezta took a step back with a differential bow while Priscilla just stood in place, clearly seething.

“All I mean to ask is: Are you sure you would rather leave it in her hands rather than take it for yourself?”

“I have enough to manage as is,” Arkk said. “If Leda wants the position, that is acceptable. Otherwise, I think I would rather hand it off to someone else to use. It’s up to her.”

Leda drew her hands into tight fists, taking in a deep breath. She could do this. She wanted to do this. Just the way the magic swirled around within her chest, ready to be unleashed instead of having to force it out… She doubted it was like what her ancestors felt before the Calamity, but it was as close as she was likely to get.

“You can count on me.”

Arkk stared a moment as if sizing her up. It only lasted an instant. He probably wasn’t even aware of the brief consideration he took. But he ended up smiling at her, nodding his head. “Good. Then what was the other problem, Vezta?”

The greater servant, whose eyes did not take on a kindlier look, let out an almost disappointed sigh. “With what funds are we going to use to construct another tower? The treasury is diminished and the fairy has no wealth of her own.”

Arkk’s good mood turned pensive once again. He hummed a moment before the red light in his eyes shone ever so slightly brighter. “I’ve got a few ideas. Leave it to me.”

He vanished, teleporting away without another word.

That left Leda in the uncomfortable company of a seething dragonoid and whatever Vezta was feeling at the moment. The look she was giving Leda was anything but kind.

“It would be wise to keep any thoughts of betrayal in check,” Vezta said, turning her body toward the door without turning her head. Her eyes were still focused entirely on Leda. “Arkk may be merciful. I am not,” she said as she left the room.

Leda shuddered, only to jump with a slight yelp as an icy hand dropped on her shoulder.

“Ignore the servant. She is jealous that she cannot contract with the Heart herself.”

Leda clamped down on a retort asking if Priscilla wasn’t in a similar position. So she just nodded her head and hoped that Arkk would be back sooner rather than later.

Leda watched with mixed feelings as the largest mound of gold she had ever seen just evaporated like a bucket of water left out in the middle of a hot day. That had been enough gold to make even a fairy like her into a minor noble. And it was just gone.

Around her, the shadowy servants she had summoned toiled away. It was strange watching them. They were little more than flat silhouettes—no matter the angle Leda looked at them from, they didn’t have any form—and yet, they moved about the shadowy orb, exuding building materials from their bodies. The first was a tall pedestal that matched the one where she had originally found the orb. After that, they spread out black, light-absorbing bricks across the ground, forming a proper floor.

Leda shivered in the chill spring wind. Having spent so long in the heat of the Underworld, even despite her proximity to Priscilla’s natural cool, the open air of the regular world felt especially cold against her skin. It didn’t help that there was nothing around.

Her tower wasn’t being built in the Cursed Forest or anywhere near Elmshadow. They were in the plains far south of Moonshine Burg. Far enough that only a dedicated scouting team would find it, but close enough that it could move there in a short amount of time.

It didn’t seem like a good idea to her, being out here without any real support. There were teleportation circles, but Arkk didn’t have another army to help support her if she was discovered out here. He didn’t have extra crystal balls that she could use to watch over the surroundings, he didn’t have a proper escape plan for if things did go wrong, and he didn’t have the focus to dedicate to her while he was worried about demons and armies approaching Elmshadow.

All he had for her was one of the creepy Protectors. A lumbering giant of a being compared to him. Leda shuddered, looking over at it. She was about as big as its foot. Its face, stiff chitin molded in a vague humanoid shape, was utterly incomprehensible. It just stared at the construction project, its wide eyes following those shadowy servants as they went about their task.

The construction was getting somewhere now. A large, circular chamber now fully encompassed the pedestal and the orb it held. The shadows were building outward and upward. All with hardly any input from Leda. It was like they knew what to do. Some exuded bricks underneath the existing structure, lifting it upward as they formed the top of the next room below. Others built on top of it, apparently unconcerned with the potential instability of the base being worked on. The rest worked on creating what would end up being legs for the eventual tower.

Even the orb chamber would only be a small corner of its floor, protected by thick layers of outer walls, empty space for stairs, and even more walls around it.

As the structure grew larger, Leda started noticing something. A magical tingle deep within her chest.

When she had first touched that orb, way back in the Underworld, she had felt the magical power within her just waiting to explode out. To be used. It had been overwhelming until they shut down that tower to move the orb back home, but now, it was on the rise again. With every brick laid, with every additional tile spreading the building out, she could feel a sudden jump in her heart.

It was a wonderful feeling.

Leda’s worries over the future started to give way to excitement and anticipation. She watched the shadowy servants, just waiting for them to form the next brick and join it to the rest of the structure.

“Is this how you feel all the time?” Leda asked, breaking the silence as she looked at Arkk.

His glowing red eyes turned to her. “Feel?” he asked, confused.

“Just… the magic. Every brick that goes down…” Leda licked her lips, looking back to the shadowy servants.

“Ah. The Heart makes me a much more powerful caster than most people. Is that what you mean?”

“Maybe,” Leda said, distracted. She didn’t think he got it at all. Was it because he was a human? Or maybe he had just gotten used to it. He had been at this for a long time, after all. Unless he didn’t get this feeling anymore.

Every brick that went down was a significant increase in power, but each was less than the one before it. Ten bricks would double a ten-brick floor, but ten more bricks after that would only add half the previous total. Ten after that would be even less. Arkk controlled the entirety of the Cursed Forest plus Elmshadow. A single brick for him would be nothing relative to the rest of it all.

It was almost disappointing to think about it like that.

On the other hand… What must it be like to control that vast territory? If two rooms were making her heart pound this hard, what would a whole forest feel like?

“Keep at it,” Arkk said, ignorant of her thoughts. “I need to get back and figure out how we’re going to handle things going forward.”

Leda grimaced, elation crashing down as she looked at the three others standing outside her slowly rising tower. “You’re leaving?”

Arkk looked at her, then smiled oh so kindly. “Vezta can answer any questions you might have,” he said, gesturing to his servant. “She helped me a lot in my early days. And Priscilla and the Protector won’t let you come to harm. If there is any sign of Evestani, they’ll all help get you out of here.”

Grimacing again, Leda deliberately avoided looking around. She did not want to meet the glowing yellow eyes of the servant, the iced-over face of the dragonoid, or… whatever the Protector was.

Though the latter was still staring at the shadowy servants, paying her little mind.

“Head inside, practice teleporting around, and whatever else you can think of. I’ll be back in the morning to check on the construction progress.”

“I… okay.”

Okay.

Leda closed her eyes. She needed to focus on the good. That magic that was building inside her. The spells she could now learn, now that she had access to such magic. And… Well, that was about it for the moment.

Magic.

Magic was good.