Song: "Bed of Roses" by Adrian Von Ziegler

When corruption has its way, when the mind goes to waste, when all I love ends up erased, I will still be there.

I will still be there.

❂❂❂

Micah dropped to his knees, eyes wide at Festinia's dying form. Her once-beautiful features had been melted by Light Spinner's fury. "This was...why Norwyn hid the scroll." Festina whispered a breathy laugh. "It was the one place he thought she'd never look."

Micah struggled to process what had happened. Was Light Spinner right to be upset that Norwyn had hid the scroll from her? Or was all of what he'd done a good limitation - had her father figure just been trying to protect her, with Light Spinner having been in the wrong the entire time?

What about the Spell? Was that something Light Spinner had had within her all along?

Was I right to leave her?

Festinia's hand went limp, and Ahelia closed her eyes gently. Three Guild members had been lost that day - the day Light Spinner snapped.

Ahelia spoke gently to him. "We'd best tell the public what's happened. Light Spinner will be dead in a couple hours. Everyone who failed the Spell would be."

Micah swallowed. But her modifications - she told me it wasn't the original Spell.

That means there's still the fighting chance she's alive.

✧✧✧

Light Spinner teleported to the Hall of Sorcerers, her hateful gaze on her statue. They wanted to attempt to kill her? Then she would remove herself not just from the Guild, but from the history of Mystacor.

She fired her light, each one adding only shadows and darkness to the great pillar of marble, not destruction. Blood stung her skin. I didn't love Norwyn. I also didn't want him to die.

She fired one last large blast, then dropped to her knees. The first signs of sickness crept over her - nausea, joint pain, wooziness, coldness. Good. Just keep coming.

A footstep pattered behind her. Her gaze snapped up; Arvina brandished a dagger. Light Spinner tried to cast the same spell she'd done to suffocate Norwyn, but she couldn't get it to work this time.

She gathered her strength and teleported away before Mystacor could hurt her further. If they were willing to punish her for a mistake that her apprentice made, that was just one more way they had wronged her throughout her life.

✧✧✧

Light Spinner exited the teleportation spiral in the air, an enormous crack echoing off her surroundings when she landed on her stomach in sand. She moaned in pain as she clutched her side, bringing her knees to her chest, with no sense of place, no direction. All she knew was agony.

She tore her veil off, vomiting onto the sand. Stinging cascaded up her arms. What had she done? What was she thinking, trusting someone else with her life?

Light Spinner lay flat on her back, touching her rib and almost sobbing from the pain. It was certainly fractured, and she had to get assistance before it punctured her lung. But she couldn't move more than a few steps. She was a dirty, smelly mess - pouring sweat, dripping with shadow that stank like old tar, with blood streaming down her arms and onto the sand around her.

Her mind was like the ebbing tides, a quiet, laughing murmur. Did you truly think Micah was special? He's a child, and you are Alura, no matter how you try to hide behind a different name. The failure, desperate for attention. Desperate for love to those who had to grow beyond you.

"No," Light Spinner muttered, thrashing, her body raunching against invisible needles. A vision sprang from her head, as though the Spell was pulling long-buried memories straight from her mind, urging them to dance in front of her eyes and torment her.

She dropped to her knees in the grassy knoll of her garden, hoping beyond all hope that no one could see her silent tears. The threat of crying tore at her, pain devouring her rationality as her mind kept force-feeding her the memory from moments before. The final kiss Nell gave her before leaving her forever. That kiss of betrayal. That kiss that played gently at her lips, taunting her that her hopes of a better life were once again gone. Just as they had been three years before with Ántonin.

Norwyn found her, and she begged herself not to cry, to admit how wounded she was. He cleared his throat. "I saw him go. What is wrong, my child? I had assumed you two resolved your differences." He pressed her head to his chest, holding her broken body in his arms, rocking her back and forth beneath the great, starless sky.

Light Spinner sniffed and sank against him, breathing in the scent of potting soil on his clothes. At least Norwyn would always be here for her, as her father. "Nell...he left me."

Norwyn's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean, my child? He told you he would marry you. Why, I had been planning to walk you to the boutique this week to choose a dress."

"He changed his mind," she said, her voice trembling. "He said his parents wouldn't pay for his education. I told him I had enough money for a whole Emeth in Medicancy, but he refused me. He said...he said that I needed to move on. That we both did."

Norwyn held her for a while. "Nell simply needed a way forward, child. Sometimes people...they get to a place, thanks to you, where they can finally spread their wings and fly. You must be willing to let go."

The words gored Light Spinner through the chest, and she sobbed. Sobbed for the lost companionship with him, for the fact she would never read books, or dance, or ride a horse with him again. Sobbed for the fact that the boy with the tawny skin, that handsome biracial Del, would never be her husband.

Light Spinner crushed her eyes shut. It's ironic, really. How things always end for me, how they must end every time. I have lost two things once again: my best friend, and motherhood.

She tried to cast a kinesis spell to move herself, but she couldn't focus. Closing her eyes, she kept her breath level for fear of jostling her rib, and stayed still. She would wait for the Spell to bleed the life out of her. It was a merciful end, since she'd destroyed her own life without even trying.

✧✧✧

Micah lay in her bed that night, staring at a picture of Light Spinner from her Guild coronation hanging above her bathroom door. He didn't know how to sleep unless she was in the next room or on the couch, and he knew she would be there if he needed her. Sleeping in her bed had recovered her rosy fragrance, but it just reminded him of what had happened three hours before.

He summoned the picture to his hands. Back then he'd thought she was sad - now he knew just how far down that sorrow could go, how twisted her mind had become. Had she loved him at all? Or was she just using his power for the Spell - a spell that he had backed out of? Her voice, vengeful and teary, echoed in his mind like the sound of a concha against his ear. There were so many questions he would ask her, if only they'd had more time.

In the end, he hadn't been enough for Emeth Light Spinner. But the rest of the world had known she was trouble from the start, and it would go on as though nothing had happened. Arvina had been crowned the Head Sorceress in private, and Light Spinner's spot would be empty until Micah or someone else took her place.

He vowed not to make her mistakes, but what were those mistakes? Manipulating a teenager for her own gain - even though she had gladly put her life on the line for him in times past and saved him? Letting anger cloud her better judgment - though the Guild's was just as poor? Allowing fear of the future to impact her morality - though Light Spinner was the bravest person he'd known?

There were a thousand questions he would ask her. He searched in her nightstand for a journal so he could write his letters and send them to her if she made it out alive.

Dear Light Spinner, he wrote in Meyan. He would get better at expressing himself later. I miss you so much. It's only been a few hours since you left me. But I...

He blushed. I miss your crêpes. They taste amazing. And I want to give you a hug. I want to know why you left.

He wasn't a good writer like her. But he could almost picture her taking a shuddering breath as she wiped the tears from her scarred face and read his letters, and that eased his embarrassment. I don't think there's anything that'd make me stop loving you.

✧✧✧

Light Spinner longed for the Spell of Obtainment to kill her. Death was better than living without power, without support from any kingdom, without her Micah. But death refused to come. Why wouldn't it come?

After a time, she pressed her hands to her face, which was sticky with sweat and blood and shadow. At last, she sat up. If I'm not going to die, I should at least know where I'm lying here like a fool.

Sand crawled beneath her fingers, and the silver glimmer of the ocean stretched a few hundred yards away from her. Light Spinner squinted, a current flowing around her, gold and blue and violet sparkles soaking into the sand.

Magic. I can see magic. Not just the moondust...the power within it. It's so beautiful.

And in the distance, at the Arrowhead Delta, was a single small hut, its roof collapsed. Light Spinner gasped against the pain of her broken rib, but worked up the strength to move again. Anywhere the moondust landed on her body sent small tingles of pleasure down her spine, and strength.

She stumbled on her hands and knees toward the door of the house. The seashell wreath rested crookedly on the door, just as Micah had described it to her, with the Closca de conx in blue, white, and yellow. She stood against the pain in her back and shoulders and entered the room, her hands having aged a thousand years in only a few hours.

The house was so small. So humble, just like him. If she had known that his plucky attitude, his precious dark eyes, and his warm arms would become the staple of her sanity - moons, would she have hugged him on the spot when they'd met.

Light Spinner fought against the hand that now had a hold of her heart, that forced her entire body to scream power, power, power. She feared she would obtain Micah just as she'd obtained Norwyn. She picked up a tiny doll in the corner of the room, which had looked like her before the Spell had raked its ugly claws across her skin. Micah had probably made this to show his mother what Light Spinner looked like when he'd come home that first summer, back when he had just been another student.

Her hands clenched, and the Spell won the battle for her heart. I love him still. But since she could not have Micah, she would make those who had stolen him away from her share her pain.

✧✧✧

The next day, Micah stood in front of the mirror in Light Spinner's office. Today was his last day here, after which he would be living with Emeth Arvina until he came of age.

I need help. Help from someone who doesn't think Light Spinner was evil. "Take me to Queen Angella's palace." The glass swirled before his eyes, fading into the castle. He inhaled. The last time he'd been there, it had been with Light Spinner, only six months ago.

He stepped through the soupy silver liquid, staying focused and dedicated to reaching the other side, just like she'd taught him. His own voice from the night before terrified him. The Spell was evil. You saw what it was doing to the room. To us.

Micah stopped in the In-Between as pressure cramped down on him. Sighing echoed around him in the mirror, and his gaze passed to his hands. Stay focused, Micah. There's no one to save you if you get stuck.

Trudging onward, he reached the white window and exited the In-Between to Bright Moon Palace. When he looked up, Queen Angella was holding her face in her hands.

A shock passed through Micah. Does she know? "Your Majesty?"

Angella gazed up in surprise. "Micah? Where is Emeth Light Spinner?" A breathy laugh. "Or did you two get separated again?"

He hugged himself. After a moment, her eyes widened. "Micah, what's wrong?"

Micah gave a shuddering sigh. "Light Spinner - she...she's gone. Not dead - at least, I don't know - but she's not around." Tears welled in his eyes, and he crushed them shut. "I think she might have tricked me," he said, his voice wobbling. "She used the Spell of Obtainment - or at least she tried -"

Angella's eyes widened. "The Spell of Obtainment? Micah, that's not your fault. What did she tell you?"

"That she modified it and it wasn't dangerous. But she was wrong. Something went wrong, and I think..." He swallowed. "It was my fault."

The queen knit her brows. "Are you here alone?"

"Yes. I shouldn't even be telling you about it - it was supposed to be a secret thing in Mystacor." He wiped his tears away. "I need your help."

"With what?" she asked, standing again. Her violet eyes were kind, as always.

I will join your Rebellion. For both of you.

Micah steadied himself. "I want to know if she's really dead. She taught me about power readings - there's a thing people can use to find out where a sorcerer traveled."

"Of course I'll help you," Angella said gently. "Is it a spell?"

"Sort of. I'm going to need a cauldron and these ingredients," he said, writing with magic in the air. "We'll need to do it outside."

Angella nodded, looking at the list. Then she spoke to one of her servants, and they exited the room. She placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression grave. "Even if we find Light Spinner, you won't be able to see her for a long time. You understand this, don't you?"

Micah lowered his eyes; that truth had been so difficult for him to face. Even if she survived the Spell, she would be stripped of custody and banished from Mystacor, and placed in a Drylian prison for life at best. Micah wasn't even sure if he wanted her to be alive, not if she was the same rabid animal that had killed Norwyn.

But the other part of him, the part that loved her unconditionally, would never give up on her. Because whatever she was that night, it hadn't been Light Spinner. It couldn't be. You'll always have me as your friend, Light Spinner, he thought, thinking of the time they'd held one another in the snow. Always.

He nodded. "I just want her to be alive. And for us to save her."

Angella placed a hand on his shoulder. "And we will find out together soon."

✧✧✧

Micah cast the spell. "Show me where Light Spinner last teleported." He breathed deeply, drawing the mandala in the cauldron, and it shimmered pale blue just like his magic had always been.

But the magic faded to dark purple. Angella knit her brows together beside him, clasping her hands together. Micah stretched his gaze toward the horizon, then looked at his compass. She went east. East right toward...

His eyes widened. "She went right toward Tropicilas."

Angella gave a sharp inhale, and Micah sighed, tears stinging his eyes. His hopes of getting his teacher back, whoever she was now, waned away. The Fright Zone knew who she was, especially since she had attacked the Horde before.

"I'm...so sorry," Angella said, putting her hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it off and rushed toward the mirror, silent tears rushing down his cheeks.

Only a year after he lost his parents, he'd lost his best friend too.

Could it have been a nightmare? If so, he longed to wake up and enter the common room of her house.  He wanted to hold her and feel her deep voice rise within her like a mighty earthquake. . His fingertips needed to cling to that anchor of strength and love. But he would never hear her voice again. 

❂❂❂

Did you know...

● After Light Spinner spared Micah's life, we don't have any more details on their relationship. All we know is that he's aware Light Spinner is Shadow Weaver in the present day, and he's angry at her.

● This is a longer chapter, so I don't have an illustration for every scene. Hopefully these ones will do.

Tell me what you think...

● What does Micah make of what happened to Light Spinner that night?