Identifying just what the crystal did was, unfortunately, only the beginning. The next step - and the more difficult one - was to disable it without putting anyone in danger.

Liv paced around the enormous, iridescent structure, trying to mentally unwrap all of the supplementary magic woven into it. Crystals weren’t static things: they grew over time. But Liv had seen firsthand what could happen when the sigil work of an enchantment was broken, when she’d fallen in the mountains and snapped one of the bones that Arjun had inscribed for her.

At the time, it had only been her Authority training which had allowed her to take over for the broken enchantments and suppress the bone-warping effects of the last vestige of Costia’s final spell. Arjun’s trick wouldn’t have worked even a few months later: her own growing Authority would have overpowered his attempts to enchant her body, Liv was certain. Perhaps at the time her own subconscious desire for the pain to stop had even helped his efforts along.

But this crystal would have the same vulnerability as her bones - if the base structure was altered, the sigils could be deformed, breaking the enchantments. “That explains the Cer enchantment,” Liv muttered to herself. She reached out with her left hand, then hesitated and decided not to actually touch the surface of the crystal. Without knowing what half the intertwined pieces of magic there did, she couldn’t be certain there wouldn’t be a trap of some sort. If she’d been an ancient goddess trying to keep control of her slaves during a rebellion, she would have made certain to put something nasty there.

“Can you break it?” Arjun asked her.

“Absolutely,” Liv said. “The question isn’t whether I can break it or not. The question is whether I can do it safely.”

Her friend shot a glance over to where their troops had rounded up the cultists who had surrendered, rather than fight to the death. There were two dozen, at least, and the humans among them, at least, looked as if they hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in days - or perhaps longer.

“Most of the Eld had enough Authority to shrug off the effects,” Arjun explained. “And Ractia only used Antrians that didn’t have living brains here.”

“We checked,” Wren said, from where she waited at Ghveris’s side.

“From what we could get out of the workers, it seems like the Antrians and Iravata were here as much to ride herd on the humans doing the farming as to actually protect the place,” Miina explained. “Ractia cared that food was being shipped back to Nightfall Peak. Not so much for the well-being of the people who were making it happen.”

Liv sighed. “First of all, I want everyone backed up,” she said. “I’m going to do my best to make sure there won’t be any unpleasant surprises, but I’ve never actually seen anything this complex before.” She paused, and thought better of those words. “Well, that’s not quite true. The leaching enchantments throughout the Tomb of Celris, and the healing beds up on the ring, are at least as complicated as this. But I never tried to destroy either one of those.”

“You took control of the Tomb,” Arjun recalled. “Would it be easier to take control of it?”

Liv shook her head. “I know why you’re asking, and if you really want to make enchantments to help patients rest, I’ll work with you on that,” she promised. “But this thing is going away. I’m going to start by surrounding it with one of Sidonie’s dream wards, except I’ll make it facing in, rather than out.”

“I thought we were out of powdered mana stone?” Arjun asked.

“We are. But there’s plenty of it beneath the ground,” Liv told him. She tried not to dwell on just how useful Rose would have been in this situation: she could have used her words of power to pull up hunks of mana stone and then grind them into a fine dust, producing exactly what Liv needed. Instead, she would need to improvise.

With Ghveris and Wren trailing her, as well as two of her personal guard, Liv trudged across the jungle floor to one of the outlying branches of the mana stone network. She deliberately chose one that had been cut off from the rest, broken by, as far as she could tell, the root system of an enormous, fruit-bearing tree. The precise cause was unimportant.

Holding her wand in her right hand, Liv clenched her left into a fist, and then opened it, crafting a gigantic hand of ice from the ambient moisture in the air. When she made a motion to reach down and lift, the frozen fingers followed her movements exactly, punching down through the earth, grasping a vein of mana stone, and yanking it upward. Dirt rained down, falling from between the fingers of her conjured hand as quickly as water through a mountain cascade, and Liv shook the hand, trying to get rid of as much excess earth as she could. Finally, the white stone was revealed.

Once she’d gotten it mostly clean, Liv sculpted herself a bowl of adamant ice, into which she placed the chunk of mana stone. Then, she made a fist, and rearranged the structure of the ice which made up her conjured hand, turning the entire thing into adamant ice, as well. Finally, she ground the hardened fist against the bowl, with the mana stone trapped in between, just like she was using a mortar and pestle.

Next came the careful, painstaking work of laying out the ward, which at least Arjun could help her with. Together, they transcribed the enchantment Sidonie had created, first clearing themselves a section of bare earth around the cluster of crystals, and then letting powdered mana stone fall through their fingers to form the lines and curves of both the circle itself, and the enchantment. When they were finished, Liv allowed her mana to trickle through the ward until the lines of white dust began to shine with blue light.

“You think that will help?” Arjun asked her, once they’d both stood up and wiped their hands clean.

“I think it’ll contain any kind of dream magic that lashes out when I break it,” Liv said. “Costia’s last spell warped bones. I’d hate to give everyone here nightmares for a week straight, or for us all to just fall asleep.” In truth, she wasn’t really worried about any of that for herself: enchantments wouldn’t be able to overcome her Authority - not anymore. But there were ninety odd soldiers who’d come with her here, and she had a responsibility to take care of them, as well.

Rather than begin a new spell, Liv simply seized control of the only partially-melted fist she’d left on the forest floor next to her grinding bowl. She loosened the structure of the ice until it could move again, and then summoned a second hand - a right, to match the left. With her wand tucked under her armpit, she used both of her hands to grab the crystal and snap it.

An explosion of blue and gold mana erupted from the crystal, followed by a wave of colors in every shade, running together in an iridescent haze. The eruption struck the dream ward they’d set down, and then stopped, boiling up against an invisible barrier, but not passing. Liv smiled, reached out with her Authority, and began to pull in the ambient mana, using it to partially replace what she’d spent on the operation.

“There,” she said, turning to address her friends with a grin. “That was easy enough, wasn’t it?”

☙

When they returned to Feic Seria, Liv left behind twenty Elden warriors, from a mix of Houses Kalleis and Keria, to watch over the rift. The prisoners they brought along, in two parts, because there was no need to pack everyone together onto a single waystone at the receiving end when they were returning to one of their own secure positions.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Can you run and ask Elder Aira about getting a few workers from the Garden of Thorns?” Liv said to Mina, as they hurried down the sandstone corridors to clear the way for the next group which would be returning. “I want to harvest all the food that’s growing at that rift, and put it to use.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Miina assured her, and peeled off from Liv’s group to go and find the old woman.

Outside, in the heat of the early afternoon, Liv found her father, speaking with Juhani. Neither of them looked happy.

“Find a place in the shade for our prisoners, for the moment,” Liv told Aira. “Make sure they’ve got water. I want to send them on to Whitehill as soon as we know all three of our assault groups have returned.” Then, she walked over to the two men, who broke off their conversation as she approached.

“Did something happen at the tower?” Liv asked, worried for Bryn, in particular. The Grenfells had lost enough already; she didn’t want to have to bring them news of one more death.

Juhani scowled, his grey eyes stormy, and shook his head. “No. There was only a light defending force, and your guild mages were able to get us up in the air. There was a bit of difficulty breaking the Antrian lines for a moment, but we suffered only minimal losses and destroyed the enemy.”

Liv nodded, not seeing the problem, until the word the Elden warrior had used registered. Not defeat - destroy. “How many prisoners?” she asked, hoping that she was jumping to conclusions.

“We did not take prisoners,” Juhani told her, proudly. “We put every cultist to the blade. Twenty human mercenaries, and a dozen of the bats.”

Behind Liv, Wren drew her blades with a smooth ring of enchanted steel against metal. Out of her peripheral vision, Liv saw Ghveris and Arjun seize the huntress by the arms and hold her back. It was largely symbolic: all of them knew that Wren could have dissolved into blood to escape the Antrian’s grasp. But it must have been enough to make her think twice.

“You rusting son of a bitch,” Wren snarled. “You were supposed to take prisoners!”

Juhani shrugged, and Liv could swear that she saw the faintest trace of a smile on the man’s lips. Not enough to be obvious - she’d never have noticed it herself, if not for Julianne’s training.

“Hence,” Valtteri said, “the heated nature of our conversation before your arrival.”

“Why didn’t you take prisoners?” Liv growled, though she already knew the answer.

“I answer to the elders of House Kalleis, not to a girl with pretensions of divinity,” Juhani spat back. “And yet, this time, I will give you an answer, Livara of House Syvä. Have it in the form of a question - did the Cult of Ractia take prisoners at Soltheris? No? Then why should I spare them the slightest mercy in return?”

“Maybe because we’re supposed to be better than Ractia?” Liv shot back, aware that her voice was rising and yet unable to stop it. “There’s hundreds of people at Nightfall peak, Juhani. Are you going to lop the head off every one of them?” She took a step forward, though it forced her to crane her neck back and look up to meet his eyes.

For his part, Juhani didn’t retreat an inch. “Any who don’t die in battle,” he answered. “They’ve already proved themselves traitors. Coddling them will only lead to trouble down the line. These are monsters who made blood sacrifices to raise their dark goddess, who ambushed us not once, but twice. We give them exactly what they gave us.”

“No,” Liv said, her jaw set. “You won’t. Father. The council of elders put all Elden forces under your command, yes?”

“They did,” Valtteri agreed, pronouncing the words slowly.

“I hereby request that you assign Commander Juhani to hold Feic Seria while the rest of us move on to the plateau,” Liv said, never allowing her eyes to drift away from Juhani’s gaze. She was certain that the slightest hesitation, a single blink, would be interpreted as a sign of weakness. “Since he’s proven himself incapable of following orders during an assault, perhaps he can do better securing our supply lines from the rear.”

“You do not command me,” Juhani hissed through his teeth. “I will have vengeance for everyone who died at Soltheris.”

“She may not, but I do,” Valtteri said. “I find your suggestion quite suitable, daughter. After all, a man who cannot follow orders cannot be trusted to command troops in the field.”

“The elders will hear about this,” Juhani began, but Liv had exhausted her last shred of patience. A swirl of cold air blasted out from her in every direction, sweeping the red dust of the high desert away in a spray. Hoarfrost cracked over the enchanted steel breastplate of her armor, and then began to accumulate on Juhani’s armor, as well.

He grunted, and swayed on his feet, as if an enormous load had been suddenly placed on his shoulders. Juhani’s Authority rose to contest Liv’s, and it tasted of wind blowing in off the ocean, of gathering clouds, and the rich, petrichor smell that came after a rain.

She crushed it.

Juhani’s knees buckled, and he fell, only managing to catch himself with both hands in the sand. He was not as strong as Keri’s aunt, Liv decided. Perhaps at the same level as Calevis had been, before the crippled monster had finally died.

Liv bent over, to look the man in the eye as he struggled to keep his eyes up. “Go ahead and tell them,” she said. “Go tell them you’ve claimed for yourself the title of Butcher. Tell them you massacred helpless prisoners, and see what they say.” With a final push of will, she collapsed his arms and slammed his face down into the dirt.

“That’s enough,” her father said, placing one hand on Liv’s pauldron. “Enough, Liv. You’ve made your point.”

She took a deep breath, and then a step back. The cold receded, and Juhani sucked in a gasping breath. Liv turned to leave, but paused when she saw Wren’s face. “I’m sorry,” she apologized to her friend, and then hurried away. She didn’t trust herself if she remained in Juhani’s presence a moment longer.

☙

When Elder Aatu returned with his force, he brought even more prisoners than Liv had. The sight of the old man riding a wyrm had, apparently, gone a great deal of the way toward convincing the wayward members of House Iravata to throw down their weapons.

All in all, nearly fifty prisoners were sent through the waystone to Bald Peak, where they would become Keri’s problem. Liv sent, along with them and the soldiers who kept them under guard, a letter for her friend and regent, in which she made a few recommendations.

“You’re certain he’s going to do what you want?” Miina asked her, when the last flare of light had faded from the desert waystone, and left only emptiness behind. “He hunted the cult across the north for twenty years, and didn’t take much in the way of prisoners at the time.”

The thought made her uncomfortable, because it raised the question of exactly how much difference there was between Keri and Juhani. “I trust him,” she answered, finally. “And he’s got advisors to help him. Pandit Sharma has a way of telling you what you need to hear, regardless of whether or not you actually want to hear it. And Sidonie will help him with the logistics.”

Two days later, the first of the ushtrah arrived from Lendh ka Dakruim, brought by waystone. Vari was all smiles, embracing first his great-grandmother, and then Liv’s father. It was easy to forget the young man had spent months with Keri and Valtteri, first crossing the ocean, and then hacking their way through the jungles of Varuna to secure a beachhead for the war effort.

Half a dozen Dakruiman trainers came with him, to teach the alliance how to manage the beasts, and Liv had an opportunity to practice the few words she knew of their language when greetings were exchanged. When they began pointing at her and chattering away, however, she couldn’t follow, and had to ask Arjun for a translation.

“They’re calling you the Bonebreaker of Akela Kila,” her friend explained. “Apparently the soldiers spread a few stories. It would seem most of the city knows that you’re responsible for weakening the rift.”

The arrival of the Dakruiman animal traders, and their beasts, spurred the Alliance forces forward. While there was room at the edge of the rift to host the men safely, now that they had secured the means of a functioning baggage train, there was no longer a reason to hesitate.

On the fourth day after the triple assault on Ractia’s outlying rifts, the march across the high desert began. The elders remained behind, with a rearguard under Juhani’s command, and their presence gave Liv some small degree of confidence that he wouldn’t be able to cause further trouble. Word had been sent back to Soltheris, and supposedly the elders of House Kalleis were discussing what to do about him, but Liv had given up hope they’d have an answer before she left.

Lines of soldiers set off, marching in time and raising a cloud of red dust that stretched to the western horizon. Every man and woman, whether human or Eld, had been given a piece of linen cloth to wrap around their face, to keep the dust from getting into their mouth and nose. They all carried water, which Liv only hoped would be enough. The ushtrah, heavily laden with supplies, trudged along in the middle of the column.

Overhead, Silica circled, casting her shadow down upon the army below, and keeping a watch from the sky. At last, it was time to take the battle to Ractia.