AN ILLUSION

Rhayne opened her eyes. She listened to the silence in her room for a few moments, letting
her jumbled thoughts settle down. Lately, she had trouble sleeping. The air around her was
heavy. It felt uneasy, like an annoying bubble that wouldn’t disappear, no matter how much
she waved it away. She threw her legs off the edge of the bed and sat up. Trailing her hands
through her messy hair, she took a deep breath and cracked her neck, alleviating the built-up
strain that came from her not-so-soft pillow. One would think that being a Librarian Aspirant
came with certain perks such as decent beds, but one would think wrong. She stood up,
stretched a few times, and headed for the bathroom.

Her room was a mess of different scrolls and parchments that had various magic symbols and
runes scribbled all over them. She liked to call it her "creative mess", but in reality, she felt
too lazy to tidy up her room and organize her stuff. Her teachers would call that
"irresponsible behavior" and "childish", but she couldn't be bothered to listen to unwanted
criticism. She kicked aside a large bag that was standing in her way to the bathroom and went
inside. Without wasting any time, she opened the tap and splashed ice-cold water on her face
and down her neck. In seconds, she was wide awake. As part of her waking-up-in-the-
middle-of-the-night-to-do-shady-shit routine, she spent a few moments staring at herself in
the mirror. Black bags under her eyes, her hair a mess with strands sticking out from all
directions, making her head look like a bird’s nest. Chapped lips, and her visibly sunken
cheeks made her look like she did not sleep for days. She felt exhausted, even though she just
got up from an eight-hour slumber.

“I hate this.” She muttered under her breath, as she took a hairbrush and started putting her
wild hair in order. A few more splashes of water, and when she looked at herself again, she
resembled a half-decent human being. Taking off her sleeping gown, she stared at her pale
skin that faintly reflected the silver moonlight that came through the small window in the
bathroom. Scars covered her forearms, shoulders, and torso in an intricate network that she
was sure not even the most talented tattooist could recreate. Her fingers traced across the
scars, as images of her rather pathetic childhood flashed in her head. She shuddered, tearing
her eyes away from the scars, and looked at something more interesting.

The Sigil. It glowed faintly, as it absorbed the invisible energy of the Great Ocean of
Ruhanaan that was everywhere around her. It was a circle with an impossible pattern crafted
out of interlocking magic symbols. Lines that didn't have an origin point, merged and weaved
with other lines that had no endpoint, shapes meshing with one another in a seemingly
smooth transition at first glance, but upon second glance, looking like a jagged net of random
lines thrown together. She could swear that the Sigil, which was tattooed under her right
collarbone, moved as if it was alive. She felt a wave of calm washing over her, as the faint
warmth originating from the Sigil spread through her aching body. It was a pleasant side
effect of having magical tattoos etched on your body by a very powerful mage. She felt her
connection to the Great Ocean even when she was not actively using magic. And it made her
feel confident in the task at hand.

Using a towel, she dried the excess water that was left on her skin from the intense water
splashing and got out of the bathroom. Quickly, she threw her outfit on. A grey undershirt she
smelled beforehand and decided it was still good to go, tucked into her dark-blue pants, and a
dark-blue coat, that had a large symbol of the Librarian Order woven by golden thread onto
its upper back – an eight-pointed star with a rhombus as a centerpiece. The rest of the coat
was woven with golden overlays in patterns that she thought looked nice – although a bit too
complicated for her taste. She liked her clothes as plain as possible. Walking around in fancy,
gilded embroidery wasn’t exactly her first choice. But, the Mages had a sense of flair, and
Librarian Uniforms were all needlessly intricate. At least the cloth was well-tailored, looking
like something the nobles of Elderhearth would wear. The Librarians had to keep up
appearances no matter what – at least that’s how they justified their yearly budget spent on
damn fancy coats. Either that, or they just liked looking fancy.

Whatever the reason was, she didn't really like the overall aesthetic of the Librarians. She was
just a Novice who was ways away from becoming an Adept. To become one, she needed her
mentor's recommendation for the promotion, and her mentor was a stingy bastard who kept
on blabbering about the importance of studying until perfection was achieved. Which was in
itself, a paradox, since he always said that mages could never achieve true perfection.

She realized she was standing in the middle of her room, staring at a random corner of the
ceiling and thinking about clothes. "Damn it." She scowled and started hurriedly putting on
her leather bracers – the left one was a plain leather-brown bracer, while the right had the
Librarian Symbol painted on, in a bright red color, which signified her status as Novice.
Despite everything, she was excited about the day she could finally put on the White Bracer
of the Librarian Order, and proudly walk the streets as a full-fledged Mage of the Order.

She pulled out two crystallum daggers she had hidden under her bed. Two long, sleek blades
which were able to penetrate any magical barrier due to the magically-resonant material they
were made of. I’m going to use you two tonight. That thought made her smile. But then she
realized she was excited about murder so she immediately wiped her smile away. "That's
nothing to be proud of, Rhayne. You're doing a job. This isn't supposed to be enjoyable," she
spoke to herself. Yet, the elation she felt at the prospect of sliding the thin blades through the
bodies of some less-than-savory characters told her otherwise. She stuffed them inside her
coat, in the hidden leather sheaths she crafted herself, and looked at herself in the mirror.
“Looking like a proper Mage there, Rhey,” she huffed, turning around a few times to make
sure the dagger hilts weren't sticking out from under the coat fabric.

Marching over to her clothes cabinet, she took a deep breath. Quickly, she moved all the
hanging clothes to the side, revealing the cabinet’s back made out of solid wood. Her fingers
found the hidden latch and a loud click was heard as the fake back squealed open. “I’ll need
to get the hinges oiled, otherwise half the Librarian Tower’s going to hear me.” She muttered
to herself. “Don’t talk to yourself, people will think you’re crazy.” Rhayne rolled her eyes in
disappointment. “You don’t have to think out loud,” she reminded herself, as she pried open
the fake back.

The lifeless eyes of a decapitated head that belonged to one of the high-ranking Librarians
met her gaze.

“Disgusting,” she groaned. “It looks just like the real thing.” She stopped for a second and
said “It would suck if you tried to pull off an illusion without having any real-life reference,
now would it, Rhayne?" Her life in the Elderhearthian Slums threatened to resurface again.
She pushed the memories down by opening herself to the Great Ocean that flowed around
her, and pulled strings of energy from the flows of Essence, Body, and Air into herself. She
let the energy course through her body for a few seconds. She felt her back straighten, her
muscles swelled up, her aches subsided. The colors around her suddenly exploded with
vibrancy as her eyes were boosted by magic, and her ears registered the steady drip-drip-drip
of water from her leaky faucet through the bathroom’s closed door.

“I am a catalyst. I let the flows pass through me, as I guide them and shape them. I do not
bend under the strain, and I do not break under the pressure. I am one with Ruhanaan, as
it flows through me,” She recited the Librarian Mantra out loud, centering herself, and
finding her calm.

With a few quick finger motions, the decapitated head started to shimmer and distort. She
was opening a hole in the previously invisible network of Runelocks which started glowing
once she began picking them apart. They looked like a network of runes, tightly woven
around the head. They reminded her of her Sigil tattoo, only much less complex. “I still suck
at this, but it’ll have to do.”

"Reveal," she whispered, directing the flows of Essence, Body, and Air through the opening
she'd made. In a second, the illusion broke apart, revealing an old sack of rice she stole from
the kitchen a week ago. It was roughly the size of a human head, and the weight felt right as
well. She wrapped her fingers around the flows of energy that were making a hole in the
Runelock network, and yanked them up – breaking them. The illusion of a decapitated head
settled back in. Satisfied with the fact that her illusion survived an entire week without her
supervision, she directed some extra energy into the Runelocks that made up the mirage and
grabbed the fake head by its “hair”. Before she shoved it in a bag, she added a few more
masking runes to the illusion, just in case. Nothing short of a very strong Reveal spell could
be able dispel her little trick. This part was especially important, because if someone realized
there was magic involved and decided to poke around the fake head, they would discover her
ruse. She needed her spell to hold. Especially tonight.

She closed the bag and put it over her shoulder. She stuck her boots underneath her other arm
and quietly snuck out of her room. In long, silent strides she made her way across the
Aspirant Hallway. The coldness of the stone felt pleasing to her bare feet, and she enjoyed the
chill of the night air.
In a few moments, she reached the entrance to the staircase. Using the elevators was out of
the question because their motion was carefully monitored by the arrogant engineers from the
Tech Branch. And it was three hours after midnight – a time when no Novice is supposed to
be awake. This whole "sneaking in the dead of night" thing would be much harder if the
Magic Detectors could register the fact that she was actively using Ruhanaan. No mage could
do so without her will, thanks to the Sigil that was comfortably heating her skin. It was a gift
from her master – a complicated network of Runelocks that concealed her magical presence
from other mages and items that could detect magic – which allowed her to use magic
without anyone around her being aware of the fact. Something that was punishable by
expulsion, not a big deal at all.

She had to make her way to the northern part of the Halls of Arcana, which was located
almost twenty floors under the Novice Quarters, and on the opposite side of her in the
Librarian Citadel. “I hate stairs so much,”  she thought as she snuck inside the staircase,
slipped on her boots, and started to descend. At first, it was slow and careful. She was paying
attention to potential threats in the form of suddenly being discovered by a stray night guard.
That quickly bored her, so she flicked her wrist and fingers and a Mirror illusion shimmered
around her – a spell that reflected the space behind her, removing her from sight. She was
still there, but only those with Ruhric Sight could tell that she was behind a fairly simple net
of Runelocks. Then she started jumping over three or four steps at a time. She streaked down
the staircase, traversing the distance of twenty floors in a few short minutes. I’m not patient
enough for this bullshit.

A few minutes later, she arrived at the entrance into the hallway that led into the Halls of
Arcana. Immediately she leaned against the wall that was opposite the entrance – her chest
heaving with breathlessness. She took a series of deep breath-ins and breath-outs, calming
down her racing heartbeat and breathing. She could feel multiple beads of sweat making their
way down the small of her back. Dissolving the Mirror around her, she quickly glanced
inside her bag – the head was still there, the illusion unbroken. She knew she had to operate
very carefully because the extent of her illusions was three at a time – with every illusion
being weaker than the last. At the moment, the head inside of the bag was a very strong
illusion, taking up a lot of her energy. Lucky for her, she practiced the routine she has
planned for tonight at least a dozen times, so she was fairly confident in her abilities.
Even if things go sideways, she always can resort to brutal knife combat that she mastered
during her time as an active gang member in one of Elderhearth’s notorious gangs. But that
life was behind her. She had to focus on the task at hand – and that involved meeting some
very shady characters who roped her into a particularly nasty scheme. Or so they thought.
She smirked and stepped through the archway into the hallway that led to the Halls of
Arcana.

The stonework was complex. Built by ancient mage hands thousands of years ago, these
titanic blocks of whatever-type-of-stone stood unblemished. Erosion barely touched their
surface. She could see the intricate Runelock patterns that were engraved in the massive stone
blocks all around her. They were mostly the handiwork of Earth mages who diligently
worked in order to strengthen the stone foundations of the Librarian Citadel. It was probably
the safest place in the Citadel to be in if a siege was to target it. Not that there was anyone
crazy enough to target the Librarian Citadel with their cannons. She immediately
remembered four examples of people who were, in fact, crazy enough and scoffed to herself.

Lanterns that stayed alight forever, thanks to a cleverly designed system involving Fire
Crystals illuminated the way. There were no windows in the Halls of Arcana. Hell, the Halls
were built underground. It was because, here, most of the magic-related accidents where
Librarians end up blown to smithereens, happened. Isolation and containment, very hand
concepts when it comes to exploding scientists.

Librarian mages use the Halls of Arcana as their workshop. New spells, magic items, and
other uses of magic technology are tested here. This is an excellent choice of location for a
secret meeting of mages who were up to no good, due to high levels of residual and active
Ruhric energy that has congregated in the Halls of Arcana over numerous decades. Magic
detection down here is outright useless – unless you're Jack Waylander, the Archmage, of
course. Word is, he could detect a mosquito in the middle of a chaotic Ruhric Storm on the
other side of the world. In most cases, this would just be an overblown rumor, but if you
know who Jack Waylander is, you know that any rumor about him is probably an
understatement.

Rhayne’s thoughts raced all over the place. She found comfort in chaos. If she focused on the
potential outcomes of her mission, she would probably kick herself into a very dark,
depressing place where there's nothing but failure, which would, in turn, cause her to become
very paranoid and panic, and ruin everything because of her nervousness. "And you wouldn't
want that, would you Rey?" she whispered the question to herself – which jerked her
wandering mind back into focus.

She was in front of the massive door that was the entrance to the Halls of Arcana. They were
engraved with magic since she could feel her Sigil pulsating. It was a similar magic to what
was etched into her skin. However, the Runelocks that created the complex network of spells
were cleverly hidden in the engraved patterns on the door, so there was no way that she could
even begin to comprehend what kind of spells are on the door. She just knew that the moving
images of Librarian mages locked in battle with what seemed like unnatural beasts that
resembled the pictures from her textbooks on Aberrations, looked quite spectacular and
pleasing to the eye. She has seen her fair share of the Librarian Citadel, but no matter how
many times she saw certain things, they don’t fail to awe her whenever next she does. The
door to the Hall of Arcana is one of those things.

She threw her hood over her head and knocked at the door in a knocking pattern that was
previously taught to her by the same people she was to meet tonight.

After waiting for a few minutes, the door cracked open. A lone eye appeared in the crack,
inspecting her. She cupped the fingers of her right hand over the outstretched fingers of her
left, so her palms created a shape that resembled an “inverse trident”. The secret sign of the
Triumvirate, a dark brotherhood of mages who have a bone to pick with the entire Librarian
Order. The eye beyond the door looked at her gesture for a few moments before opening the
door.

“Welcome, Sister.” A deep voice echoed beside her, as she stepped through the door. That
made her heart skip, but she remained calm. “Thank you, Brother.” She answered, pitching
her voice slightly lower than usual. “I have come, bearing gifts. I have come into your fold.”

“Walk with me then, Sister.” The deep voice told her. It was the familiar voice of a very
notorious Librarian by the name of Saheen Bayur – The Lion. She was the one who pinned
him down as a member of the Triumvirate – and initiated contact. She left deliberate hints
that she was willing to betray the Librarian Order and join his little shady cult. She received
an invitation into his quarters very soon after she started leaving breadcrumbs, where he told
her that if she was willing to join the Triumvirate, she was to kill a known mage and bring
him the head. She was there now, with the “head” of her target in a bag slung over her
shoulder, walking towards the secret meeting place of an enemy organization deep within the
Librarian Citadel. Sucks to be them. She almost smiled.

Saheen walked in front of her, and in a cold tone, said: “Wait.” Then he disappeared behind
another door.

Rhayne feigned a leisurely stance, in case someone was watching her. Inside, she was
calming herself down and fighting her anxiety. Don’t panic. She pulled on the flows of
Essence, Body, and Air, and the magic coursing through her being centered her. It gave her
calm and serenity – something she desperately needed. She thought about the heavy, protein-
filled meat breakfast she was going to wolf down as soon as she was done with this whole
thing. Despite looking like a slender, athletic young woman, the other Novices called her
"The Carnivore". If they gave her that nickname out of fear or respect, she wasn't sure. One
time, a big, musclebrain-type of a guy – Selio – thought it would be funny if he mocked her
in front of everyone in the Mess Hall, calling her a piggy and other such names. The fact that
he was a full Librarian, although a recent graduate, didn’t stop Rhayne from turning his face
into a bloody mess. He was helpless. That expulsion sentence was avoided because her
mentor interceded on her behalf. After that, the Novice Quarter bathrooms were kept clean
for months because of her.

Her nostalgic thoughts about obliterating Selio’s nose and being elbow-deep in shit were
abruptly interrupted as Saheen’s deep voice suddenly said: “Come, Sister.” 

She snapped out of her trip down memory lane and walked in through the door.

She found herself in a fairly large circular room. In the center of it, a piece of stone – shaped
to look like a triangle – floated above the marble floor. She could recognize the Runelocks
for levitation engraved on the side of the stone triangle. That made her feel at ease because
she wasn’t ready to deal with levitation mages tonight. Or ever, for that matter. Screw those
guys. Three stone pillars were standing at the far side of the room, and a banner with the
upside-down trident woven in gold was hung off of the central pillar. Just what is with mages
and gold?

On the opposite side of the pillars, three hooded figures sat at an ornate table draped in
crimson cloth embroidered with very fine etchings and floral patterns. The upside-down
trident symbol was woven in the very center. The faces of the three were obscured by masks,
so Rhayne had no idea who might the mages be. Most of all, she hated doing anything while
being completely uninformed. Which was her life story, more or less. She knew Saheen could
summon a spectral lion to fight in his stead – and that lion was more dangerous than the real
thing. He was known to mercilessly hunt down his targets no matter how far they run, no
matter where they hide – which is why they called him the Lion. She could take him on if it
was only the two of them. But with three other unknown mages in the room, she wasn’t so
sure. She could always plan the attack for another day. As long as nothing goes wrong.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Saheen who loudly announced: “We gathered here, to
welcome a Sister into the fold.”

The three mages who were seated, chanted in unison: “Hear, hear!”

“As it is ordained, to be invited into the Brotherhood, one must carry out a task and bring a
gift.” Saheen continued, moving over to stand directly in front of the Triumvirate banner,
with the upside-down trident hanging above his head.

“A task must be done.” The first mage said.

“A gift must be brought.” The second mage said.

“And the initiate shall be judged!” the third mage said, but something about his voice struck
Rhayne as oddly familiar.

“As the tradition orders, the initiate shall not use magic during the trial.” The familiar voice
sounded as if was gloating, and Rhayne realized that it belonged to Selio. What the fuck is he
doing here? She was alarmed – she immediately wanted to get out of the room and never
look back. There was something creepy in the fact that she was thinking about Selio before
she stepped into the room. She hadn’t seen or heard anything from him in the past three
years. Shut up, dumb girl. Calm yourself. You know his powers. You know how to fight him.
You can do it. Rhayne inhaled deeply.

She recited a part of the Librarian Mantra: I do not bend under strain, and I do not break
under pressure. I am one with Ruhanaan, as it flows through me.

And she pulled on the flows that were all around her. She felt extreme pleasure over the fact
that the four mages in the room could not feel that she was using magic. Fuck you, and your
rules.  She thought but wished she could’ve screamed it in their faces.

“Initiate!” she jerked her head towards Saheen, and shot him a glare. “Bring your gift.” He
ordered in a commanding tone.

She approached the levitating stone triangle, and took out the sack of rice that had the illusion
of a decapitated head woven over it from her bag. She poured a little more energy into the
protective wards that hid the illusion, making sure it stays unbreakable and hidden. She
placed it on top of the floating stone. Subtly, she flicked her fingers, creating a sound illusion
of squelching flesh, as she plopped the sack on the slab. Without really knowing what to do
next, she bowed and moved a few steps back.

Saheen approached the head and inspected it for a brief moment. He took it in his hands and
held it in front of himself, pointing the face away from himself, showing it to the three seated
mages. They all gazed upon the severed head for a few brief moments, before the mage on
the left raised his hand, as if to say something.

He instead took off his mask. It was the man whose fake head Saheen was holding up.

“That’s not good,” she whispered.

Before any of them could react, Rhayne threw up a tight Mirror around herself, making her
technically invisible. After a very quick and practiced series of complex Runelocks, a Mirage
of her with a surprised gasp was left standing in her place, hands twitching in anxiety.
Rhayne moved closer to the levitating chunk of stone in the center of the room.

She summoned all he strength and kicked the levitating stone triangle, knowing that it will
break her Mirror. The Runelock for levitation broke with a hum, and the stone flew into
Saheen. He yelped as the slab slammed directly into his stomach, knocking him to the floor.
One problem solved. She was suddenly visible to everyone else.

Selio roared and the table the mages were sat behind flew towards her head. Rhayne dove to
the floor, her fingers furiously flicking and summoning both a Mirror, and a new Mirage into
existence. Finding her footing, she made it look as if the table took out her mirage.

She moved nearer to the stone pillars, concealed from eyesight. Selio rushed over to Saheen,
and started fumbling with the big rock. Rhayne saw rice spilled across the table near the
downed mage. No sign of the fake head. All those days spent in preparation. Gah.

Rhayne was pulling on flows of Body, boosting her agility, strength, and reflexes ever so
slightly. She took out one dagger and kept sneaking toward the two perplexed mages who
were left standing. As she moved towards them, she made her Mirage get up from underneath
the battered table, dust itself off and run at the two mages.

The one she was supposed to kill raised both arms and a translucent, red barrier made out of
Essence shimmered into being in front of them. The other mage who was still masked took
two steps back. Rhayne saw that mage was a woman.

Her head turned towards Rhayne and she knew that the mage was looking directly at her.
That immediately stopped her advance, as she felt cold sweat on her forehead. Oh no.

The mage cocked her head to the side and Rhayne swore she could’ve heard a derisive
chuckle, but one that wasn’t meant for her. It was meant for the mage’s colleagues. Suddenly,
she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Gone. The fourth mage was gone. Vanished. There was no puff of smoke, no blaze of energy,
nothing. Except the snap.

That’s a problem- her thoughts were cut short as the growl of a wild beast echoed in the
room. Her head snapped in the direction of the growl, only to see an almost-translucent,
golden, glowing lion appearing out of thin air. Saheen was standing up, holding his bloodied
abdomen and wiping blood from his mouth. His eyes were ablaze with the same golden color
the Lion was. Selio was near him, offering a hand. Shit, shit, shit.

“Where is she!?” screamed the barrier mage. That brought Rhayne back to the situation at
hand, and she realized that her Mirage disappeared. Her Mirror was still there. She ran
towards the unknown mage, and at the same time formed two Mirages of herself causing one
to emerge behind a pillar and run at Selio and Saheen, and the other to appear out of thin air
in front of the barrier mage.

He screamed and closed his hands together, summoning a box-like barrier around Rhayne’s
Mirage. He squeezed his hands together, interlocking his fingers and the box began to shrink.

“Lucky for me I’m not in there,” Rhayne looked in disgust as the box’s borders reached the
Mirage. She was standing directly behind the barrier mage, his box barrier shrinking further.
Her Mirage ignored the barrier, as there was nothing there except an illusory image on the air.
The Mirage started flickering as the barrier disrupted its weaves.

“Over here,” Rhayne whispered, and before he could turn to look at her, she slammed her
dagger into his temple with such force that it went through the other side of the skull, stopped
only by the cross-guard. His body jerked and twitched. His barriers vanished. He made a
strained choking sound.

Rhayne felt the dagger in her hand heat up, and she knew that she’d gone through a thin
barrier around his body. She made a mental note to thank her master for the crystallum
daggers, should she survive this night. The mage’s limp corpse slumped and dropped to the
ground.

Saheen- her thoughts vanished once again, as she was illuminated by golden light before a
massive paw slammed into her side, hurling her across the room. She crashed into the
opposite wall and fell to the floor. A fit of coughing and dry heaving shook her, and her
vision blurred. Her ears were ringing.

“Did you really think it would be that easy to slither your way into our ranks?” Saheen
laughed. “You’re not the first spy Waylander sent our way.”

Rhayne could barely make him out clearly, but she saw that he was standing upright, with his
golden Lion at his side. He snickered again. “Don’t tell me you actually bought into the
initiation ceremony? Secret gatherings, numbers of three, our symbol hanged everywhere? If
the agents that Waylander sends after us are as stupid as you are then we will be able to
dismantle the Librarians in no time!”

That stone was supposed to at least knock him out. She breathed in and immediately grit her
teeth against the pain that spread through her chest. Ribs. They’re broken alright. She slowly
got up to her feet, clawing at the wall for support.

“He’s dead boss,” Selio said from across the room. “Bitch skewered his brains good.”
The big bully kicked at the dead mage’s corpse. “Fuckin useless,” he spat.

“Selio,” Saheen said, putting his hand on his spectral lion’s head. Selio looked at the golden-
eyed mage with fear written all over his face. “Show me that you’re not useless.”

The big Librarian turned towards Rhayne, and tore off his Triumvirate robes and mask. The
sight of his slightly crooked nose, and eyes that were glowing with an ominous red glow
made Rhayne growl in anger. She remembered hearing somewhere that they called him
Battering Ram, and whatever he’d done to deserve that nickname, she didn’t want to be on
the receiving end of his blows. This was evident as he slammed his fists into the floor,
exploding the marble slabs beneath them, his face contorting in a wicked mask of rage.

Rhayne felt her Sigil heat up as Selio began weaving his flows. “I do not bend under the
strain, I do not break under pressure,” she whispered to herself as she opened herself up to
more energy. The flows of Body pushed her pain to some distant corner of her mind, dulling
it. She began moving alongside the edge of the wall, regaining her composure.

Saheen winced as he turned and started for the door, his spectral lion dispersing into beautiful
golden particles. “Oh, and Selio – leave her face intact.”

Selio roared and charged. Rhayne knew she couldn’t take a Body Mage of his caliber head
on. Nor could she let the Lion escape. Think, think, think.

She pulled on all her flows again, filling up to the point of breaking. Despite the dulling of
pain from her Body magic, she still winced as she took a big breath. She pulled out her other
dagger.

She weaved a Mirror around herself, and dropped into a crouch, leaving a Mirage of herself
facing Selio. Both her, and the Mirage ran towards the big mage. The Mirage ran up to him
and jumped in the air, as she threw herself forward, sliding between his legs.
Selio tried to swipe at the fake Rhayne above him, while she slashed at his ankle. The dagger
cut deep and she felt the heated crystallum blade scrape against bone as she slid forward. He
screamed in pain and lost momentum as his ankle buckled underneath his weight.

He tumbled forward and toppled to the ground with a nasty-sounding crack followed by his
horrified shriek. Rhayne’s Mirage did a backflip over Selio, and continued running towards
Saheen, who was turning to see why his underling was suddenly making all that ruckus.

A second Mirage came from the wall on Saheen’s left side, as the first advanced from the
front. Saheen’s eyes widened in shock to see two Rhayne’s running towards him. She was at
the limit of her power with three active illusions and had only one chance to do this right.
Rhayne grit her teeth and sprinted towards Saheen.

He immediately pulled on his magic, letting the spectral Lion out at the Mirages. That gave
her enough time to circle around him, as the Lion focused itself on the illusions. Saheen’s
eyes were glowing, and she knew he was using Magic Detection to seek out her aura. She
knew it was a fruitless attempt. Her Sigil was almost burning with heat. The spectral Lion
stopped dead in its tracks – as Saheen realized that neither of the Mirages were really her.

And that she was nowhere to be found.

But it was already too late. She was at his side.

“Over here” she whispered. Selio’s pained screams echoed in the background.

Before he could turn around, she slammed her dagger deep into his side. Yanked it out and
stabbed him again, this time in the stomach. The blade was sizzling. Whatever invisible
magic protection he had was useless as she stabbed him a third time. His spectral Lion, who
was mid-air, halfway towards the real Rhayne, exploded into a million tiny golden particles
as she twisted the dagger around his gut. He howled in pain.

Rhayne ripped her dagger out, opening a large gash in his stomach, and let Saheen drop to his
knees. His arms were weakly clutching at his ruined belly that was gushing blood over his
shaking fingers. A puddle of the thick, red liquid spreading underneath him.

“Don’t worry about Waylander’s agents,” she dragged the blade across his throat. “We’re
more capable than you’d like to think.” His hands went limp and his head lolled forward.

Saheen choked on his own blood. The only response she got was a gurgle before he leaned
forward and fell face-first into his puddle of blood. His legs twitched one last time before he
stilled.

Rhayne stepped over the Lion’s corpse and walked over to where the barrier mage lay dead.
“I’ll be right over, Selio,” she said over her shoulder as she stepped on the dead man’s neck.
She grabbed the hilt of the dagger she left embedded in his head and pulled. The stiff neck
muscles resisted, making the head shudder as she tried to pry the weapon out. Sometimes,
blades get caught on bone. “Just a moment, gotta get my knife!” The sounds that Selio made
were somewhere between sobbing and whimpering. “What a big baby,” she gave the dagger a
few more vicious tugs, but nothing happened.
“Damn it,” she cursed and planted her foot on the man’s lower jaw, pinning only his head to
the floor with all her weight. She bent over and pressed the top half of his head with her left
hand, wincing from the pain of her broken ribs that spread through her side. Her right hand
closed around the dagger’s hilt. Finally, by slowly rotating her wrist as she pulled, the dagger
started to come out. There was a disgusting slurping sound as the dagger was pulled out.

Her forehead was covered in sweat and she grit her teeth, fighting nausea and pain that
almost made her black out. She turned away from the dead mage, pulling in a stronger flow
of Body to dull her pain. It was already becoming too much to deal with, and she had to
finish this soon.

She created three Mirages and four Rhaynes encircled the whimpering Selio. She noticed that
his entire foot was missing. It must have been torn off when he landed on it with all his
weight. It was off to the side somewhere, and she saw a trail of blood from where he
originally fell down. He was clamping down on his lower leg with his massive fists,
preventing fatal blood loss. I must’ve cut him harder than I thought, damn. She moved her
gaze away from the missing foot and looked him in the face. It was pale, almost ghastly-
white, as he still bled out a lot. His face was covered in tears and snot. “Pathetic,” she spat.

Memories of him yelling “Piggy!” in front of the entire Novice quarter resurfaced. She
remembered everyone laughing. She remembered him pushing her head down in the mashed
potatoes. She remembered herself on top of him, between the tables in the Novice mess hall,
pummeling his face with her fists. She remembered the way drops of his blood splashed on
her face before a dozen people managed to peel her off him. She remembered him yelling
“You’re nothing but a little pig bitch,” after her as she was dragged away.

His crooked nose told her that he never managed to properly heal her handiwork. There was
something consoling in the fact that whenever he looked at the mirror, he’d probably
remember her and curse her for ruining his pretty face or whatever.

His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “…fuck did you do to me you bitch!? Who cuts
off someone’s foot!?” he was angry again. He blindly swung at one of the Mirages and his
fist just passed through the illusion, distorting it.

“Which one are you!?” he roared as he swung at another Mirage. This time, the real Rhayne
lashed out and slashed his flailing arm. He wailed.

“You pig bitch!”

Rhayne’s arms moved on her own.

She kept slashing. Arm. Leg. Torso. Neck. Arm. Torso. Leg. Torso. Back. Leg. Arm. He
swore and tried to resist but she was faster than him at this point.

Selio was covered with a multitude of small cuts, and his strength simply disappeared. His
insults eventually stopped.

“Please…stop…” he sniveled like a child, sobbing and wailing.

“What’s wrong, big guy? This is the second time I’ve put you down and you’re helpless.
Again.” She said, venom dripping from her voice.

He shook. “Please…”

"Look at me." She kneeled down next to his head. His eyes turned to look at her, red from all
the tears. His entire face was bloated from crying, with tiny droplets of his blood dotting him
entirely.

“W-what do you want?” he asked, weakly.

“It’s not about what I want. It’s about what my Master wants. And he will get his answers,
trust me.” She said simply, and got back up.

"I can't offer anything! I'm just a low-ranked member! A useless thug! I don't even like the
Trium-" his pleas for mercy were cut short as Rhayne viciously kicked him across the jaw,
cracking bone. She flinched from the kick as pain seared through her ribs.

Selio was instantly knocked out.

“Enough talk. You’ll have plenty of time to talk with people who actually care about what
you have to say,” She wiped off her daggers with his bloodied coat and sheathed them.

She looked around the room and cursed. She went to the large Triumvirate flag and cut it into
strips. Rhayne took off her coat and lifted her shirt, sucking her teeth as the bloody shirt
peeled itself off her wound. Her side was covered with a nasty-looking bruise that was
already purple-black. Across the bruise, she could see five slashes that were slowly bleeding.
It was her being filled with reinforcing flows of Body that saved her from not getting
instantly killed by the spectral lion. And her dumb luck.

She used the strips she made to bandage her midriff. “That really fucking hurts,” she leaned
her back and head against one of the pillars and sighed heavily.

“I hate cleanup,” she pushed herself off the pillar and walked up to unconscious Selio. She
made a tourniquet on his stump, and dressed the worst of his wounds. She then tied his arms,
legs and blindfolded him. Giving him first aid felt repulsive – but he was a necessary part of
this whole thing. Killing him could destroy potential information and her Master would be
very angry with her.

“You could’ve spared the guy in charge instead, Rhey,” she looked over to the hunched-over
corpse of Saheen. “Too late now, fuck it.”

All that was left to do now was the report she had to give her master. And the very thought of
that meeting made her groan.
“Come in.” Jack Waylander – the Archmage of the Librarian Order, the Headmaster of the
Librarian Academy, the Adviser of Emperor Uther Dawnbringer of Elderhearth, and holder
of many other titles Rhayne felt too lazy to remember – said from behind his office door after
she knocked on it using the secret knocking pattern.

Rhayne pushed the door open and limped into his, rather humble but spacious, office. She
raised her hand to her chest and placed her fist on her heart. “Master.” She said.

“Rhayne. Welcome. Please, sit down. You're hurt." He got up and helped her walk over to a
nearby chair. He poured some water into a cup, sprinkled some leaves from an herb bag on
one of his shelves, and in what seemed like a heartbeat – there was steam rising from the cup.
He did all that, and perhaps even more – in mere seconds. Too fast for her. But she will
understand how he does it, one day. The bastard did tell me his powers have something to do
with speed.

“Bastard? Is that how you refer to me in your head?” he said, walking back to his desk and
taking the cup he was already drinking from, before he sat back next to her.

“N-no? Master, I have only the utmost respect for you,” she plastered a fake smile over her
face, refusing to say anything else. He tsked twice and took a sip. “Excellent. Now tell me,
what news do you bring?”

“I feel like shit and everything hurts,” she took a sip as well. “Buuut, I don’t have a sack of
rice that looks like a human head in my dorm room closet, I visited the Halls of Arcana after
hourse without anyone’s permission, and I killed two full-fledged Librarians. They were
probably of a higher rank. I didn’t really research it.” The Archmage’s face had a worried
expression, as he scratched his temple.

“So yeah. Nothing much,” She took a sip of the warm drink. It was pleasant to her aching
body.

"First of all – language. Second of all, you had my permission to go wherever you liked.
Third, they weren't Librarians, not anymore. They were traitors. And I do believe it was in
self-defense, wasn't it?"

“Y-yes. Good tea,” she slurped again.

He looked at her for a brief moment, expressionless, seeing through her lie.
“Okay, well. Did you leave anything we could use?”

Rhayne inhaled sharply. “There’s a big guy tied up in a small room in the Halls of Arcana.
His real name is Selio. I don’t know the surname. I’m pretty sure that his Mage Name was
Battering Ram,” she said.

“I know of the mage,” Jack nodded. “Interesting.”

Jack was the one who saved her ass from expulsion after that incident with Selio, but she
didn’t feel like explaining herself.
“One other thing, there was another mage present. A woman.”

Jack squinted ever so slightly.

“I have no idea who she is or how she looks like. She wore a creepy robe and a mask,”
Rhayne shrugged. “But she did, um, disappear.”

“What do you mean, disappear?”

“Snapped her fingers and was gone, just like that. No fancy tricks, no residual Ruhanaan. A
snap, and she vanished.”

Jack’s brows furrowed. “I’ll look into it.”

Rhayne winced as she took a deep breath. "Anyway, it was just another ordinary night of me
being up to no good. You know how unruly, undisciplined Novices are,” she snorted. “I fell
down a very long flight of stairs because I got piss-drunk on a weekday, which is like, totally
irresponsible of me – I know. I'm very sorry, won’t happen again."

She told Jack the excuse she came up with this morning, and took another sip of tea. "So by
how much is my Novice status prolonged after my idiotic blunder?" she asked.

"I'm promoting you to Adept," Jack told her, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

She nearly choked on her tea. She coughed so much that Jack had to smack her on the back,
to help her regain her composure. Once she settled down, she could only blink at him, her
mouth hung open and her eyes wide.

"GET OUT OF HERE! REALLY?" she jumped out of her seat, spilling her tea cup. “Oh shit,
sorry,” she couldn’t keep the grin off her face.

Jack sighed and smiled. “I’ll never be able to teach you manners, will I?”

“Not in a million years. Sir,” she winked at the most powerful man in all of Pelaraam as if he
was her best friend. He rolled his eyes.

“Go rest. You’re off duty until you heal. I’ll need your full power for the next step,” He sat
back at his desk.

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Rhayne. One last thing,” He called out to her, as she was halfway out the door.

“Yes?”

“Since you were so irresponsible and got drunk on a weekday, you’re going to clean the
Novice bathrooms. All of them,” He waved her away. “Now you can go.”

She closed the door and took a deep breath. “That old bastard,” She smiled as she walked
away from the office of Jack Waylander.