by
Copyright © 2013 A.E. Marling
Cover illustration by Eva Soulu
Internal illustration by Bartosz Milewski
Graphic design by Raymond Chun
Editor: Kelcy Perry
Special thanks to the Reading Vanguard:
Christina, Stephanie, Jack, Nancy, and Robin.
First electronic publication: July, 2013
First Edition
Meet the humble scribe:
On Twitter: @AEMarling
Facebook: AEMarling
and
http://aemarling.com/
Contents:
Acknowledgments
World Maps
Chapter 1: Half Bridge
Chapter 2: The Skyway
Chapter 3: Mind’s Gate
Sketch of Recurve Tower
Chapter 4: Academy Plateau
Chapter 5: The Grindstone
Chapter 6: Lark’s Hall
Chapter 7: The Crystal Ballroom
Chapter 8: Dream Laboratory
Chapter 9: Ceiling of Elders
Chapter 10: Spire of Magical History
Chapter 11: Threshold of Stone
Chapter 12: Hall of Visitation
Chapter 13: Enchantress Parlor
Chapter 14: Academy Plateau
Chapter 15: Owl's Hall
Chapter 16: Dream Laboratory
Chapter 17: Out the Window
Chapter 18: Hall of Crystalline Records
Interlude: Fos Chandur
Chapter 19: Hiresha's Chambers
Chapter 20: Lofty Bridge
Chapter 21: Air
Interlude: Inannis
Chapter 22: Recurve Tower
Chapter 23: Tentacle Bridge
Chapter 24: Somnarium
Chapter 25: Cliff Edge
Interlude: Alyla
Chapter 26: Waterfly River
Chapter 27: Cliff Edge
Chapter 28: The Grindstone
Chapter 29: Provost's Workshop
Chapter 30: The Grindstone
Chapter 31: The Great Globe
Chapter 32: Hall of Cleansing
Chapter 33: Rector's Armory
Chapter 34: Dream Laboratory
Chapter 35: Rector's Armory
Chapter 36: Tower's Crest
Chapter 37: The Void
Chapter 38: Crystal Ballroom
Chapter 39: Mind's Gate
Chapter 40: Antechamber
Chapter 41: Desolation
Chapter 42: The Brink
Chapter 43: The Skyway
Chapter 44: Three Thousand Vertical Feet
Chapter 45: Half Bridge
Acknowledgments:
Generosity paid for all you see in this novel.
We owe these Kickstarter participants a trove of gratitude.
John A.
ETHEREAL PATRON
Zuhur Abdo
ETHEREAL REVELER
Jaszon Alexzander
ETHEREAL HERO
Anise
ETHEREAL SPYMASTER
Melinda Bardon
Megan Beauchemin
ETHEREAL PATRON
Lesann Berry
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
Caz Black
ETHEREAL PATRON
Rob Boyle
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
Jesse Brannen
ETHEREAL HERO
John O'Brien
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Ian Brown
ETHEREAL HERO
Kelley Brown
ETHEREAL PATRON
Alexandra Cenni
WARRIOR OF FORBIDDEN WONDER
Ray Chun
ELITE ECLECTIC
Gregory S. Close
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
Alex Coles
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Jeremy Collier
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
le Corback
ETHEREAL PATRON
Peter Cotter
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Marj Crockett
ETHEREAL PATRON
Kip Davidson
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
Betsy Devine
ETHEREAL SPYMASTER
Monica Dowell
WARRIOR OF FORBIDDEN WONDER
Shanna Eaves
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Paul Edwards
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Ashan Ekins
ETHEREAL LOOTER
Charlotte E. English
ETHEREAL REVELER
Lisa Farr
ETHEREAL SPYMASTER, GRAMMAR CONQUEROR
Magdalena Fabrykowska-MBotek
ETHEREAL PATRON
Stacy Ferguson-Sandstedt
ETHEREAL PATRON
Elanor Finster
ACADEMY NOVICE
Jeff Fox
ETHEREAL KINGPIN
Tereza Fuxova
WARRIOR OF FORBIDDEN WONDER
Sarah Geerling
OUTRIDER OF THE AWE INSPIRING
Amy Glass
OUTRIDER OF THE AWE INSPIRING
David Goldsmith
WARRIOR OF FORBIDDEN WONDER
Tess Grantham
ETHEREAL HERO
William Gunderson
WARRIOR OF FORBIDDEN WONDER
Andreas Gustafsson
ETHEREAL PATRON
Hansbert
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Shael Hawman
ETHEREAL PATRON
Katherine Hempel
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Cinnamon Hensel
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Eric Honaker
ETHEREAL LOOTER
Christa Huffman
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Val Hyde
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Justin Jones
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Katherine Fawcett
ETHEREAL PATRON
Madison Keller
ETHEREAL LOOTER
Christina Kessler
ACADEMY ELDER
John Kessler
ETHEREAL SPYMASTER
Ian Kitley
ETHEREAL HERO
Michelle Knowlton
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
April Koenig
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Jenny Kyrlach
ETHEREAL PATRON
Amanda Layton
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Jennifer Levine
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Lyrael
ETHEREAL HERO
Robin Lythgoe
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE, GRAMMAR CONQUEROR
Pia Lindback Larsson
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
Arline Lyons
ETHEREAL LOOTER
Madrone
ETHEREAL HIGH COUNCIL
Mr. & Mrs. Marling
SAVANTS OF THE FATHOMLESS
Maria McConnaughy
GRAMMAR CONQUEROR, ETHEREAL LOOTER
Gabriel Millaire
ETHEREAL PATRON
Kerry Mitchell
ACADEMY NOVICE
Kelli Musser
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Ian Negus
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Stephanie Neuscamman
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
Sandra Oicles
SAVANT OF THE FATHOMLESS
Aleksandr Opachev
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Christina Osman
ETHEREAL PATRON
Gary Owen
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Liam Perrin
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Kelcy Perry
FARSEEKER OF FA
NTASY
Ruthie Pfueller
OUTRIDER OF THE AWE INSPIRING
Rhawnie Pino
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
David Potter
ETHEREAL PATRON
Chris Read
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Joan López Rovira
ETHEREAL PATRON
Robert Russin
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Lillith S.
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Beatrice Scarborough
ACADEMY ELDER
M.J. Scott
ETHEREAL CONFIDANT, GRAMMAR CONQUEROR
Eric Scheirer Stott
OUTRIDER OF THE AWE INSPIRING
Mendel Schmiedekamp
ETHEREAL PATRON
A.E. Shaw
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
Kate Shaw
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Moses Siregar III
ACADEMY NOVICE
Deanna Stanley
ETHEREAL CONFIDANT
Emma Stockburn
ETHEREAL RIOTER
Carol Stoeser
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Anna Sundstedt
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
Andromeda Taylor
FARSEEKER OF FANTASY
Simon Tucker
ETHEREAL ADVOCATE
Jennifer Vail
ETHEREAL PATRON
Jennifer Valvatne
ETHEREAL SPYMASTER
Sadie Gianna Weaver
ETHEREAL LOOTER
Karin Wellman
ETHEREAL LOOTER
D. Wotske
ADVENTURER OF UNEXPLORED HORIZONS
RM Wright
ETHEREAL PATRON
1
Half Bridge
Enchantress Hiresha thought the day rather brisk for walking up cliffs. A path of blue marble ascended from the valley floor in a vertical line. The straight-up-and-down road climbed a horizon of stone, cutting through sediment bands of yellow, grey, and white rock. The Skyway’s destination lay too high for glimpses, among the snowbound peaks of the SkiarriMountains.
The chill air that sluiced from those heights prickled Hiresha’s face. She stepped out of her carriage, resting her hand on her maid’s offered arm. Enchantress Hiresha walked with her dress hems rippling ahead of her on the cobblestones, layer upon layer of silks and velvets of every color swirling about her feet. The maid beside her wore a stark grey, the dress a somber veneer for a woman who was anything but.
Today, servant and mistress walked arm in arm toward the Skyway. Hiresha squeezed her maid’s hand to reassure the woman. The enchantress knew Maid Janny had to be frightened. She had waited over a decade for this day.
A pet fox in Hiresha’s other arm squeaked. The enchantress held him with care because the desert fox was small as a kitten and fragile. The fennec fox shivered, made a sound close to a mew, and burrowed deeper into the layers of fabric under Hiresha’s arm until only his tail was visible.
Maid Janny narrowed her eyes at the fennec’s tail then turned an adoring gaze to the base of the cliff. Her daughter waited near a bridge leading from ground to valley wall. There the veiled girl would begin her trial.
“She could hardly fail,” Hiresha said to her maid. “A journey up a cliff is not as intimidating as a mother’s disapproval.”
“It’s finally happening, isn’t it?” Janny fluttered her free hand above her chest. “My heart hasn’t beat this fast since that time with the two men in the hot springs, and would you look at her? My Minna, walking her way to higher learning. Any mother would be dripping with pride, but we won’t have that. Tears of joy can’t be harder to hold down than soured rye beer. Not frightened for her at all.”
By the gallop of Janny’s words, Hiresha could that tell her friend was not frightened. She was terrified.
“She’ll make it to the top,” Janny said. “But do you think you should leave that fox down here? With the guards. Minna is a skittish girl, and I don’t see a call for that beast frightening her while she’s scared walking up a cliff besides.”
“You mustn’t call him a beast.” Hiresha stroked two purple-gloved fingers along the gold fur of the tail to its black tip. “It’s sacrilegious.”
Janny snorted at that.
The two women and the fox passed several men in ornate armor, jeweled swords strapped to their backs. They kneeled before the enchantress. A guard tower shadowed the town lane, the structure a tiny thing beside the cliff.
The maid called out to the girl who waited at the base of a bridge leading up to the mountainous wall. “Oh, Minna, you mustn’t wear that veil. You haven’t a thing to be ashamed of, and not a one in the Academy will make fun of you. Couldn’t, with this walking jewel parade for a patron.”
Janny elbowed Hiresha, the maid’s arm sinking without harm into the myriad folds of fabrics sparkling with gold lace and gems. To Hiresha, the jab had felt less than a poke.
The girl gripped the yellow strip of cotton covering her face, her frost-nipped knuckles standing out like red berries on her pale hand. Hiresha noticed the girl was trembling.
“Told you I was w-wearing it,” she said.
“Nonsense.” Janny scurried to her daughter, shooing the girl’s hands away from her face. “Today’s your fresh start. Just let me take it for you.”
“Mother!”
“No daughter of mine is going to skulk about behind a mask. There!”
Hiresha itched with discomfort to see her maid and best friend rip away her daughter’s veil. Minna gasped, one hand groping after the stolen fabric, the other reaching up to try to shield her face. Hiresha could not help but see the redness of the birthmark that spilled over the bone white of the girl’s nose and cheeks like a wine stain. Tears spurted from her eyes.
“Janny, let her wear it if she wishes.” Hiresha touched the maid’s shoulder. “It is only sensible in this chill. The Skyway is prone to gusts.”
The maid yielded the veil with a grumble. “She doesn’t need to be sorry for who she is.”
“This face isn’t who I am.” The yellow cloth soon covered all the girl’s features but her eyes, with only a trace of the birthmark visible between them. Darker blotches discolored the skin beneath her lashes, either from frequent weeping or sleeplessness. Her eyes themselves were beautiful, a light pureness with a corona of green around the pupil.
The girl gazed up at the enchantress with the same glistening gratitude as if she had witnessed Hiresha slay a sea monster. Hiresha supposed she had felt much the same way about her own mother around that age. A pang of half-remembered bitterness lurched in Hiresha’s chest. She knew all too well the feeling of being uncomfortable in her own skin.
Hiresha straightened the girl’s veil and said, “Someone once told me only the flawed can be flawless.”
The girl asked, “Was she an enchantress, too?”
“He.” Hiresha could say no more, since magic users of his sort were not a subject for polite conversation. Even now she could remember the tingling heat of his hands on her waist as they danced.
A deep clearing of a throat drew attention to a guard. He knelt holding out an amulet. “Will Elder Enchantress Hiresha, Provost of Applied Enchantment, guide this woman, Minna Barrows, on her journey to become a novice of The Mindvault Academy?”
Hiresha said she would and took the amulet. The bronze disk bore the school motto “Nothing not first imagined,” inscribed in seven languages, from the box lettering of her homeland to the hieroglyphs of the empire’s capital. The words wove around the pattern of four concentric circles.
As the enchantress clasped the amulet around the girl’s neck, Minna tilted back her head to try to see the top of the Skyway and the Academy. The skin exposed below the veil looked waxy and bloodless. The girl swayed backward as if in a faint, and by the time Hiresha thought to catch the swooning girl, Maid Janny had already nudged her daughter upright. The girl jerked away from her mother’s touch.
The spe
llsword said, “Will you, Minna Barrows—”
Hiresha interrupted the guard. “Of course she’ll train as a novice. She’s here, is she not? Now let us be about our business before someone freezes.”
The spellsword frowned as he touched the amulet. Hiresha sensed him use his power to activate an enchantment of Attraction in the bronze chain, and the links tightened about the girl’s throat to turn the necklace into a choker that could not be removed without violence. The girl’s fingers ran along the length of metal.
“It’s necessary,” Janny said, thumbing down her grey collar to reveal her own gold amulet. “Without it you won’t go far, except downward.”
The girl’s eyes climbed halfway up the cliff again before she gave up. “Anything else horrible you’d like to remind me of? Monkey bites? Bee stings?”
“My little minnow,” Janny said, “I know you’ll pass the test. You won’t fall. You won’t run from the Skyway. No matter how much you want to. You’ll get through it.”
The girl shuddered.
Hiresha extended her hand. Minna took it, twining the enchantress’s purple glove with trembling fingers as white as frost. Enchantress and novice walked together at arm’s length, the girl apologizing every time she stepped on the flood of glittering skirts.