Pasquinelli/Rise 465

Korgin always hated private requests from Ignus. It would mean being face-to-face with him, alone. That wasn’t always welcome news, nor a high honor. Being third in command was a double-edged sword. It gave him a huge advantage against any of the other Guild members except his two superiors, but then again, he also had to deal with Ignus more than he cared to. He was grateful they were few and far between, but sometimes they were too close for comfort. He knocked on the doors to his throne room.

“Enter,” came the voice from within.

“You wished to see me, Lordship?”

“Yes. I’d like you to keep watch. Our enemy approaches, and I’d like you to follow behind when they are escorted to me, but stay on the second landing. Come only if you hear Charges, is that clear?”

“Of course my lordship.”

“Jon! Jon! Wake up.”

Jon had been drifting in and out of the dream world for the past few hours. He kept getting these visions of horror to come, and it was not putting his mind at ease, nor were they inducing a peaceful slumber.

When he heard Ray waking him up, his eyes snapped open and he instantly wasn’t tired at all anymore. He sat up robotically to find Ray and Jotea packing up.

“Here, take this.” Jotea handed him something that looked like a re-usable, seal-able coffee cup, except that it looked like it was made of crystal. Inside it was a colored burgundy liquid. Jon was so hungry, he didn’t care what it tasted like. He downed the entire phial in one gulp; it was a tasty tart raspberry drink that warmed Jon up enough so he could feel his fingers again, and better yet, seemed to expand enough in his stomach that he felt sated. Unfortunately, the drink did nothing for nerves, which seemed to be nudging their way back in.

Jotea was just pulling on her furs as Jon stretched and tried to become upright. In what seemed like no time at all, everything was put away and back where it had come from, and Jotea looked solemnly at Jon and Ray and said, “It is time.”

The blizzard had died down quite a bit, but the freshly fallen snow was making every step a struggle. Jon sent out numerous jets of super hot air in front of them to melt a path through the snow. Whenever Jon wasn’t carving a pathway or watching where he was going, he kept glancing sideways at a mountain range that was continuously becoming larger.

In the past few minutes of their trek, Jon had fallen behind the women, deep in thought. Ray must have sensed it, or become annoyed at having to trudge through snow again, because the next thing Jon realized was that she was standing next to him, brushing snowflakes off his shoulders.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.”

“Nervous?”

“Is it cold?”

"Butt cold,” added Ray with a chuckle. It was definitely not one of her usual booming laughs. It seemed to Jon that her old carefree laughs were ages ago and miles away. Jon managed a weak smile.

“We’re doing it,” said Ray as she pulled on his arm and they began walking again.

“Doing what?” said Jon. He already had a mental answer to his question: committing suicide.

“It,” repeated Ray with feeling. “Facing ... well...you.”

Jon remained silent and kept his eyes on the ground in front of him.

“Oh please. All we’re doing is gathering some information. We won’t even be doing that. All we have to do is stand there like bodyguards, right? Right?”

“I guess.”

“You bet,” said Ray jovially. It seemed as if she personally wanted to cheer Jon up -- her mood had turned to almost bubbling. Jon saw what she was doing and appreciated it all the same. “And besides, after this little mission, we can go home.”

“Hmm,” Jon said vaguely. The four cream-colored walls of the dorm and the window that looked out into the forest seemed just as far away and long ago as Ray’s true laugh. For the past month, Jon regarded the Castle of Norea as home. The blue-marbled halls seemed more like home to Jon than even Oak Tree was, not because he had been at the Castle longer, but because he’d felt very comfortable in Norea.

“We’re going to be fine. I just feel it.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.” Jon smiled at Ray -- it was the first time in a long while he truly felt like smiling.

The group went on, held back only by the occasional snow bank that someone would get stuck in. Jotea fell into a particularly bad one that had her buried up to her shoulders. Jon had to melt the snow all around her for several minutes before she could get out again. After that, Jon stayed ahead of Ray and Jotea and went about melting the snow ahead of them again.

And then, at around three o’clock in the afternoon, Jotea stopped walking and held out a hand to them. She was staring at one of the mountains in her typical expressionless calm.

“We have arrived.” Jotea then brought out two brown cloaks from her backpack and handed them to Jon and Ray.

“I’m pretty warm,” Jon said, holding the cloak at arm’s length. It didn’t look like it would provide much warmth to begin with. “I don’t think I need --”

“They are not for warmth,” Jotea said simply. “They are for concealment. Ignus cannot know who you are...at least, not straight away. Jonathan, your clothes are too obvious. I would have had you wear a jumpsuit like Racine’s, but then you would have no Charge to fall back on without transforming. And Racine, I do not know whether or not Ignus ever associated with you in the alternate Timeline, but we can never be too careful.”

Ray grumbled a little under her breath, but put her hooded cloak on all the same.

Once their cloaks were on and their hoods pulled up, Jotea led Jon and Ray to a seemingly arbitrary spot on the base of a mountain. She straightened her clothes and patted her hair to make certain everything was in place.

“Zorthin Mountain,” she muttered to herself. She made a fist, then opened her hand to reveal a marble-sized orb. It flew out of her hand and out at the face of the mountain.

“What was that?” said Ray.

“Identification,” Jotea said, her gaze transfixed on the edifice. Jon looked too, but didn’t see much else besides rocks. He thought he’d actually heard an odd disembodied voice say something indistinguishable, but Ray didn’t seem to hear it. But Jotea seemed to have some sort of epiphany because in a few seconds, she was leading them forward again.

They reached the base of the mountain and were standing three feet from the rocks, which shot up from the ground at an almost ninety degree angle. Hardly climb-able. Jotea continued to stare.

“Well? Open sesame,” Ray said.

“Shhh,” Jotea breathed.

Jon was just starting to shiver from the cold or his own nerves when a small portion of the lined stone dissolved, leaving a crag wide enough for a person to enter.

Jotea breathed deeply through her nose and stepped toward the opening as if she was simply walking through the castle foyer. “Follow me,” she said as she disappeared through the fissure.

Jon’s stomach lurched queasily as he stepped through the opening after Jotea. Ray, soundless, was right behind him.

Whatever Jon expected when he entered was not as he found it. Jon had expected a small dugout cave with people hiding in corners, and Ignus in a room deep inside the mountain. Quite to the contrary, the cavern inside Zorthin was massive. The whole of the Castle could have been stacked twice and still not reached the ceiling -- which was too dark to see anyway. But the cavern wasn’t totally natural. The floor was smoothed out so that it was level, several stone doors lined the blue-gray walls, black-flamed torches cast an eerie violet light, and there were towering staircases that never seemed to end.

Even though the surroundings were uninviting, it was nothing compared to the people. The day Jon and Ray arrived for the first time was actually a warm welcome after walking into Ignus’ realm. Although not actually attacking them, it seemed colder inside the cavern than outside. Every person they encountered stopped moving and glared at them. One woman actually spit at them as they walked past. Jon wheeled around in a fury, but Jotea held out an arm and he stopped. It was only after Jon took his eyes off the woman and looked at the other people did he realize they were all wearing the same charcoal-colored clothes. Their very numbers were also intimidating; there must have been hundreds of them. They swarmed around the cavern, in the adjacent rooms, and up the stairs.

They all seemed extremely busy -- until they froze to stare at Jon, Ray, and especially Jotea. In Norea, she was the supreme ruler, and maybe slightly feared.

At long last, they reached a circular table with a sun carved into it with had pointed rays of light radiating from the center. Jotea stopped, folded her hands behind her back and waited.

No more than ten seconds later, a man with white hair and a stern face approached them. He barely glanced at them before saying, “This way.”

Although Jon and Ray constantly referred to Jotea by her first name, it was strange to hear someone else not refer to Jotea by her epithets of “highness,” “majesty,” or “empress”. The gray haired man spun around and led them off to the right side of the cavern. Jon noticed that beyond the table they had just been standing at, the cavern became a long hall with two colonnades comprised of pillars that were hundreds of feet high.

They were led through a doorway into a narrow corridor. Jon kept getting chills running up his spine every time he saw the black flames that barely lit the way. He couldn’t help but remember the candle he saw just the other day after the ball. Jon turned to Ray to get an infusion of confidence she always exuded, but he was only drawn deeper into fright when he saw her eyes beneath her cloak darting around uncertainly.

The corridor ended and opened up into a slightly larger room with a massive staircase at one end -- it seemed to climb up at least seven stories all at once. As they began to climb, Jon remembered the topmost tower at the Castle in Norea, and to such beauty it brought him to. It was at that moment that he realized how much he missed it and how desperately he never wanted to come back to Zorthin again.

Upon entering another room at the top of the stairs, there was another staircase that went at least ten stories up. At the landing of that staircase, yet another one. Despite the cold, Jon was starting to perspire in all the clothes he had on, yet his face was still frigid. It was a most unsettling feeling. On the third staircase, he finally caught a sideways glance at Ray, who seemed to be clutching her chest, apparently fingering the Transportation Elixir. Another thought of dread filled Jon to the top: if they had to flee, they would not be able to get back down through all this without encountering numerous Guild members. Jon imperceptibly ran his left hand over the lump on his cloak just above his left hip. His dose was still there and he imagined how he was going to pull it out in the least amount of time if he needed to.

Then finally, after what seemed like an hour of climbing, the gray haired man led them to a set of double doors at the top of the landing.

He stopped in front of the doors and said, turning to Jotea, “Wait here. His lordship will notify you when he is ready.” Jon was glad to soon be rid of him, but the man gave a twisted smile before he left them and sunk out of sight down the stairs.

“I wish he hadn’t done that,” said Ray. Her usual forceful air was almost completely gone, replaced with notes of panic.

Jon swallowed hard and made an involuntary gulping sound.

Jotea turned to them, and began at a volume just above a whisper, “This is it. You will not receive any further instructions from me beyond this point unless I tell you to escape. As he thinks you are merely bodyguards, he will not address you directly. Only show yourself and your Charges if you are in danger.” Jotea blanched for a second, and Jon thought he saw fear in her eyes and heard guilt from her voice, but she composed herself again. “Hopefully, if all goes well, we shall only be face-to-face for a few minutes.” Her eyes glanced uncertainly down the staircase they came from. “You will be fine, good luck.”

Jon was reminded of his high school teachers and how they would say those exact words to their class when giving them an especially difficult test. He almost lapsed into a pleasant flashback of his Ignus-free life months ago when he heard the door creak open. He drew in a deep breath and quickly cast his gaze to the ground when a calm voice said, “Enter.”

Keeping his gaze down, Jon followed Jotea’s ruffling fur coat after her. He didn’t want to look up, at least, not yet. He felt he might faint or be sick if he did.

“Good afternoon,” the Empress said in a tone unlike anything Jon ever heard before. It was a commanding tone, reminiscent of when she was scolding the man in the Town Square for attacking Ray and Jon.

“Afternoon,” came the eerily calm voice. Thankfully, Jon couldn’t hear a resemblance to his own voice. “I trust you had no problems finding me?”

“Of course not. I’m touched you care so much about our welfare.”

Was that sarcasm? Jon thought. He wasn’t sure that now was the best time to try and push this man’s buttons. But then again, he was responsible for untold misery and death.

“Naturally,” Ignus said.

Bodily threats of fainting or vomiting aside, Jon had to look at him. He slowly lifted his hooded face, and then he saw him. If it wasn’t for specific similar facial features they shared, it was almost like two different people completely. Ignus’ face looked like Jon’s, but his was lined, stern and expressionless. His hair was deep black along with his eyes, which didn’t even seem to reflect any light. He wore similar styled Phoenix Amulet robes as Jon did while transformed, but once again, lack of color was the difference. His robes were as dark as his eyes, and a blood red outline of a bird with its wings outstretched and a sharp beak signified the Phoenix. Seeing him in real life was a lot different than looking at his reflection in the mirror on Jotea’s desk.

The room they were in appeared to be a kind of throne room. It was ornately decorated and had a chair at one end of the room that was shaped much like the embroidered Phoenix on his chest with wings to the ceiling. The chair seemed to be made of a shiny rock -- onyx, Jon guessed.

“So,” Ignus began, rising from his throne. “What has brought you to my very dismal part of the world?”

“I should think that is obvious,” said the Empress in an equal calm voice to Ignus.

“Enlighten me.”

“Your forces, for some strange reason, are pushing northward and eastward.”

Ignus stayed silent and his expression didn’t change. The Empress continued. “Not counting the incident a year ago, I have let you be, when I could have had the whole country’s support if I decided to be less...welcome to you.”

“Really?” said Ignus in a dismissive tone. “The whole country?” His face broke into an unpleasant smile. “You might want to rephrase that now that you have seen a fraction of my...subjects.”

“And how many Iannisenes are still loyal --” Jotea began in a near rage, but she caught herself and stopped. It was the first time Jon really witnessed Jotea nearly losing it.

“A fair few,” he said in a response to her unfinished question. His calm demeanor also began to erode when he added, “Not that I care about this wretched little...island anymore. I have something more important in mind.”

The Empress was back to her normal composed self again. She continued to stare bemusedly at him.

“But for some strange reason,” said Ignus, his demeanor ebbing further still, “I cannot remember, nor can anyone else find, where the Gate is. Why would you say that has happened your highness?”

“Your memory, or lack thereof, is of little concern to me. What I am concerned about, is you continuing to push your forces out of your jurisdiction.”

“You think I should be grateful for what dregs of land you have allowed me to have?”

“Yes,” the Empress declared resoundingly.

Ignus gave a chuckle and started to pace. “Excuse my ungratefulness then. But you can hardly expect us to be happy in this abysmal freezer.”

Freezer, Jon thought. Ignus was making references to Earth as if he was there yesterday. Or preparing himself for an up-and-coming return. Clearly that was his main goal now. Jon started mentally going over what he might do if the time came and things turned violent. With the loud thumping in his throat, the only thing he could think of was ”stay alive.”

Ignus, still pacing, went on. “So I thought it was time that we had a change of surroundings. There is just one thing that stands in my way -- you.”

The Empress raised both eyebrows in a bored fashion. Letting the rant continue, she kept her silence.

“And not just physically either. As we speak, right now you are physically in my way,” he said slowly, more with each passing word. “Plus, you did something...something to my memory because I have seemed to have forgotten something very, very important.”

The Empress gave a sarcastically bewildered look. Jon had never seen her like this. She was usually very non-emotional and composed. Now she seemed more reactive than Ray normally was. Ray, meanwhile, seemed to be getting the fire in her eyes back -- she was scowling at Ignus under her hood.

“I know you did it. I should have anticipated you’d do something like this.”

“I will not let you simply waltz back to Earth and cause similar misery as you have here.”

“Why do you care what happens to those humans?”

“Because, like it or not, we are human. They might loathe and fear us, but our ancestry goes back to the same planet. And in case you have forgotten, both you and I are human, Ignus.”

“We are not like them,” Ignus hissed. “We are far better than they are. They cannot tolerate us, they are the cause of all our problems, and we must take back what they stole from us.”

“You are mad. We sought out this planet because we knew it would be too difficult. We made the sacrifice and left because cohabitation was impossible. What you are proposing would be a genocide. I am not about to let one of our Charges be responsible for the usurpation of billions of people.”

“What makes you think I’d do that?” Ignus’ statement was so laughable that Ignus himself couldn’t stop from giving a horrible half smile. The smile lined his already aged face even more, and with his blackened eyes, he looked devoid of life. It sent goose bumps up Jon’s spine despite his racing heart.

“I would hope your failed campaign to Norea a year ago might deter you.” said the Empress. “As I recall, you didn’t even make it through the Forest.”

“Hmm. Let’s just say, I learned from my mistakes.”

“What’s that? Not to attack someone more powerful than you?”

Jon’s head swiveled to Ray, who had just spoken. The Empress seemed unabashed and did not react.

“It would seem,” Ignus said, “that you need better control over your bodyguard’s tongues, Empress.” Ignus didn’t seem to register Ray, whose hood had come down and was staring directly at him with fists clenched.

"My subjects are not the problem,” the Empress said. She then raised one eyebrow a fraction of an inch, and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. Ray flinched, which led Jon to believe that she had just received telepathic scolding.

“Ah yes...we never have gotten over that little incident a few years ago, have we?” Ignus eyes also narrowed into sinister black lines.

The Empress shifted her weight to her other leg and was looking explosive. Jon knew this was another touchy subject because the Empress had never mentioned where her parents were or what happened to the rest of her family. Ray and he had suspected but felt it wouldn’t be right to pry. It turned out they didn’t need to.

“An issue that is your doing.”

“I cannot be held accountable for regicide.” He paused a moment. “The entire Rosebridge line ... wiped out. Did you ever catch the perpetrators?”

“Not directly,” said the Empress flatly. “But we think they were mercenaries for someone in a higher position.”

“Yes...” Ignus said absently. “Be sure to let me know when you catch them.”

“Instantly,” the Empress said with as much frost in her voice as the mountain.

Ignus paused again. “But that’s not why you requested and audience with me, is it? You must be pretty desperate since no one has ever done that before, and lived.”

“I am not desperate. I am concerned. You’re ... subjects continue to fight my armies.”

“And why are your armies there?”

“It is my country. I will deploy my armies wherever I see fit.”

“Your armies are failing,” Ignus declared coolly. “Why do you think that is?”

The Empress remained silent, staring at him.

“Because, my people are using their powers to battle your little knives. And why is that?”

“It is --”

“--because you don’t have enough Magi to battle us with,” he interrupted with an expression of superiority.

“Just because we choose not to use Charges against other Magi does not --”

“--and that is the reason you will fail. You have kept us here because you don’t want us using our powers to overpower the humans.”

“Of course that is the goal. How can you think --?” the Empress started again quickly trying to get a full sentence in.

“It’s not natural and you will be --”

“Will -- you -- let -- me -- finish?” the Empress said more loudly. The tension was so thick that Jon felt taking a breath would cause an explosion.

Ignus pursed his lips and stiffened his stance. It was obvious that neither he nor the Empress were used to being talked to like that.

“Of course,” (his features softened as much as they could). “After all, you did call this meeting, and we seemed to have gotten off-track. Now,” he said, sitting down in his throne. “What can I do for you?”

If Jon were in the Empress’ position, he would have said, “Get out of my country,” but he knew that wouldn’t work only because the only place he would go would be Earth. Jon’s fear also seemed to be trickling away and being slowly replaced with anger; he wasn’t as worried about keeping his face hidden anymore -- not that Ignus seemed to be paying attention to him anyway.

“I am prepared to yield more of the Frost and part of the Golden Rays Forest to the Guild if you cease your advancement.”

“No, thank you,” he said on the heels of the Empress’ sentence.

“We are --” the Empress began, but stopped as she registered his response. “Excuse me?”

“I said, no, thank you.”

“You are turning down land, power?” the Empress said distantly. Her gaze was transfixed and she wasn’t moving. Jon thought it must have been from surprise.

“I thought I have made it quite clear that I am not after more land on this...island.” He gave a short chuckle and said, “Not that it matters any more.”

The Empress broke from her daze but had a brief terror in her eyes before regaining her usual demeanor. “I don’t understand,” she said, not quite in a quizzical tone, but still distracted. “Why agree to this meeting then?”

Ignus stood up again and looked much less formal now. He stood stiffly with his arms up in front of him. “You didn’t think I’d let you leave alive, did you, Empress?”

“I assumed that was the idea,” The Empress said in perfect calm. She stared down Ignus without a glimmer of intimidation.

“You assumed foolishly.”

The four of them stood there for a moment, not moving, but in a flash, Ignus raised both arms high above his head, and from both sides of his body, vertical waves of black fire rolled outward, then curved around and shot themselves at Jon, Ray and the Empress.

Fortunately, The Empress was thinking more quickly than Jon was, because she raised her arms parallel to one another and a wall of white divided the three of them from Ignus and his rolling fire. Although they couldn’t see what was happening on the other side of the shield, areas of gray appeared where the black flames impacted. The Empress remained calm. She didn’t signal Jon or Ray to take their Elixirs yet, and she lowered the shield after the gray disappeared.

Ignus stood, nonplussed.

“Do not do this. It will mean open war. You will lose,” the Empress asserted.

“You,” said Ignus slowly, “are already losing.”

Before the Empress could react again, Ignus hurled a small black orb right at the Empress. She neatly dodged it, but it wasn’t specifically directed at her. The orb exploded outward in the same black fire as before. This time, it hit all three of them with extreme force and intense heat. Jon was sent flying to one corner of the room and Ray to the opposite, while the Empress was sent back toward the doors that they entered through.

The cloak the Empress had given Jon was now tattered and seared into rags, but somehow his Phoenix Amulet robes were unaffected. Jon looked over and saw that Ray had been burned, and seemed to be unconscious. The Empress was already standing again, but her jumpsuit was burned in places. She looked from Jon to Ray, and Jon could tell she wanted to instruct them to take the Elixir, but she couldn’t leave Ray there.

“What’s this?” said Ignus with immense joy and an almost insane inflection in his voice. He was striding over to Jon. “My my my, how the Timeline has changed.” He reached Jon and stopped. His eyes were wide again and he was smiling openly.

Jon’s heart was doing a number in his chest, and was about to scramble to his feet when he was lifted off the ground. Ignus had Jon’s arms pinned to his sides and had him floating five feet above the floor. He looked absolutely delighted.

“Now I wonder how this happened.... Oh dear. In my traveling backward through Time so far, I must have created an incursion. How very clumsy of me.” He didn’t seem to be talking to anyone but himself. “But all is not lost. Now there’s another Amulet for me ... one with ALL of it’s Temporal abilities intact.” With his free hand, Ignus gestured as if he was pulling air toward him, but in reality, a darkened aura of energy was pulling on Jon’s chest -- exactly the spot where he pulls to un-transform out of the Phoenix Amulet robes.

Jon had just begun to feel the pressure on his chest intensify when a blinding light forced him to close his eyes. He fell to the floor -- again. Despite the pain, he got up immediately this time.

Ignus, Jon was glad to see, was also getting to his feet next to his throne.

The Empress, with eyes flashing, turned to Jon. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but Ray....”

Ray was finally coming to. Jotea ran to her and despite obvious objections on Ray’s part, drank her dose, and with a final look of hate to Ignus, the colors and lines that made up Ray blurred and wavered until it was an indistinguishable mass and disappeared from sight.

“Now!” Jotea yelled.

Jon fumbled around and found his vial. He was holding it in his hand, about to uncork it before it became so hot that it felt like ice. Jon dropped the vial, and for his good fortune, it did not break, but hit the hem of his robes and rolled away. Jon whirled around and saw that Ignus had generated the concentrated heat, just like Jon could. Ignus started toward Jon again.

The Empress seized the moment to turn around from her spot on the floor and willed the vial to her open hand. She had her gaze fixed in the opposite direction of Ignus and Jon, so her vision was obstructed.

Ignus anticipated this and diverted his attention to Jotea; his move toward Jon was a ruse. He let out more of the black fire at her. Not knowing exactly how, but the same moment that Ignus altered his heading, Jon knew to sprint to the Empress, and his fire shield was up automatically. Just as the energy was about to strike, Jon pushed the Empress out of the way with the shield, but he was too late to avoid the black fire. For some reason, it passed through Jon’s shield as if it was air, and he was struck in the shoulder. The whole of his right arm felt as if it was dipped in lava, then hung limp at his side. Jon glanced at his shoulder, and there was no skin or muscle covering his now exposed clavicle bone. His mind registered the injury, but his brain didn’t quite process the event -- his adrenaline was keeping him immune to it. Jon also didn’t have time to care. He turned and lunged at the approaching Ignus, arm hanging at his side.

But the Empress was quicker. She used her telekinesis to send Jon floating up and over Ignus to the opposite side of the room where he landed softly.

“Stop this at once!” the Empress commanded Ignus. But he wasn’t listening.

Ignus was only feet from Jotea and his hands raised at her with a blackened energy buildup that Jon could see from across the room. His nerves nearly caused him to collapse, but he had a sudden stint of lightheadedness that was so intense, he brought a hand up to his temple to steady himself and keep from falling down. The next thing Jon knew was that he couldn’t move...in fact, he couldn’t breathe.

He tried to take in breaths very sharply, but his lungs wouldn’t expand. The only things he could move on his body were his eyes; the rest of him was stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around, thinking it could be Ignus’ doing, but he wasn’t moving either. Jotea didn’t seem to be moving either. They were like statues, concretized in their stances.

Jon was starting to panic -- he couldn’t breathe and things were starting to go out of focus. Just when Jon thought he would pass out from lack of oxygen (which would have been comforting since he still couldn’t fall or blink), he seemed to be released from his prison of concrete air. He stumbled and sucked in several quick breaths, but it was belabored and the air was thick. He looked at Ignus and Jotea and almost started running at them, until he realized they were both still not moving. Their eyes weren’t darting back and forth like his were, and they weren’t making any noise. In fact, Jon couldn’t hear anything anywhere. He was in total audio-depravation. Jon glanced out the window in the room and saw what looked like a postcard. Outside, the snowflakes were hanging in the air, not going anywhere and frozen in place just like Jotea and Ignus. After looking at Ignus and the Empress again, it finally dawned on Jon -- he had stopped the Timeline completely. Time itself had literally stopped dead in its tracks.

“Jotea?” Jon said. There was no response.

Jon saw the energy Ignus was generating in his hands and realized he didn’t have very much real time -- the last time he did something to the Timeline, it had only lasted a few seconds. He thought of something he should have done as soon as Jotea’s force field went down. He generated a fireball of red and yellow with his good arm and hurled it at Ignus. But the moment it left Jon’s fingertips, it too stopped dead in mid air, four feet from Ignus. Jon went closer to him and repeated the maneuver. Once again, the ball of fire stopped once it left Jon’s hand.

He was contemplating what to do next when the dizziness came back. The air became thin again and sounds once again filled his ears as if a record had been stopped and started.

The two orbs of fire struck true and Ignus was burned and thrown off his feet, but more importantly, his black energy aura disappeared.

The Empress threw the vile at Jon with a bewildered look and found her own dose.

“Now!” she said again.

They drank simultaneously, and the room dissolved and so did a livid Ignus, who was just getting to his feet. A blast of icy wind was their greeting. Zorthin was several hundred yards away and much smaller. Ray appeared out of the blinding whiteness a moment later.

“Thank god! What took you two so long?” she sniffed as she gave Jon a very tight hug. Jon saw that she had a burn across her face, but she didn’t seem to pay any attention to it.

“We were detained,” Jotea replied, not looking well. “How is your arm?”

“My...huh? Oh...” Jon said, looking down at his injured arm. He had completely forgotten about it. “It’s...” but he didn’t finish. When he looked at it, it had completely healed. His shoulder was bare, but fully functional and his skin had returned. He was turning his arm around, and flexed his fingers. “I don’t understand. It was down to the bone a minute ago.”

“What?!” said Ray.

“I believe that’s another property of the Phoenix Amulet. The phoenix legend is life, death and rebirth. It could explain any advanced healing capabilities. But, how did you attack Ignus so quickly and change positions instantaneously?”

Jon smiled totally unabashed. “I stopped time.”

Ray looked shocked, proud, and gleeful all in one expression.

Jotea gave a half smile and said, “I knew you could it.”

“Just one thing I don’t understand. For a while, right when Time first stopped, I couldn’t move or breathe. Why?”

“You must understand that when Time stops, everything stops -- people, animals, water, and even molecules in the air. Since nothing can change or move while Time is stopped, you were unable to move because the oxygen and nitrogen molecules were frozen as well. It took a few moments to acquire Temporal Immunity and were able to move,” Jotea finished, practically out of breath. She seemed to have her mind on other things.

“Oh. But I threw fire at Ignus and it hung in the air. Wasn’t that changing something?”

“I suppose you are able to create a bubble of moving time momentarily and it dissipated when it left your body. Did Ignus move or interact with you at all during the frozen Timeline?”

“No, he was as frozen as you were.”

“Excellent,” said Jotea. The worry she had on her face lessened a little bit. “This means that he has lost his Temporal Immunity entirely. Immunity is something only Temporal Mages have. If his is gone, it means his temporal powers have been completely exhausted. Now, we must get back to the Window and to Norea as quickly as possible.”

“Did you find anything out?” said Ray, breathing into her gloves to warm her hands.

“Yes I did,” said Jotea, breaking eye contact and beginning to plow through the snow, furs and all. Jon and Ray struggled to keep up with her. “Ignus has found a way to traverse the continent instantaneously.”

“What?” said Ray in a breath.

“We can stop them,” said Jon. “If we know they’re coming and since we know how, we can stop them before they get there.”

“No, we cannot,” said Jotea.

“Why not?” said Ray.

“Because the means that they intend to use are already in the lands of Norea.”

Jon almost tripped on himself and Ray frowned.

“We have no time to spare. We must get back to the city -- now.”

After he heard several Charges being released, then a long silence where no one came out, Korgin listened at the door to see if he could hear any voices. All her heard was a low groan. Korgin figured it was worth any Ignus-fury to see if there was real trouble. He tapped on the door with his knuckle.

“What?” came an irritated voice.

Korgin opened the door to see his Lord getting himself up, looking worse for wear. “My lord Ignus, what happened?” He rushed to help him up.

“I’m fine!” Ignus wrenched his arm from Korgin’s grip. He certainly seemed uninjured. “Where is Rosebridge?”

“Escaped.”

“I figured she’d have something like that planned.”

“Does this put us behind schedule?” said Korgin carefully.

Ignus laughed. “Of course not. This was just Mages blasting on each other.”

“Why did she come then?”

“She claimed she was going to offer us more land, and she would have, but she was probably gathering information.”

“Our element of surprise is destroyed then?” Korgin said, infuriated.

“Hardly. Let her squirm. Victory will come to us more quickly than a snowstorm.”

“And for prisoners my Lordship?”

“Prisoners?” He laughed again. “We won’t need prisoners. But she is too dangerous to be kept alive. I didn’t think I’d be able to kill her here today. No... I want to assassinate her in public. Lots of witnesses. It’ll be beautiful.”

Korgin’s composure twitched at hearing that, but managed to smile anyway.