DARKLIGHT

- 26 -

"Doesn't that hurt?" I eventually had to ask.

"Well," Kaces muttered, sitting pensively on his cot, "does calling your arkaetre hurt?"

"Not really, no."

"This isn't much different. I would have chance-called Zephion completely by now if this disc wasn't still in."

I'd never made the connection that shifter discs kept your arkaetre from being called, but it made sense. While releasing and calling back an arkaetre didn't require lighting your symbol, it did still require magic, which the disc's mechanism probably altered somehow.

I laid back, trying to think. "How do the discs prevent arkaetre calls, exactly?"

Kaces laughed brightly. "I'm no Brymea, you know."

"She must have told you something," I insisted, tossing my arms above my head.

Kaces laid down too. "Actually," he said, "one of the things I do remember is that she didn't know why only being shifted with early Dark shifter discs caused a half-call reaction like this. She figured that it was a relic of shifting in general, of course, but since Dark and Light arkaetres are very different, no Light version of a half-call has ever been spotted. It's possible that it still happens invisibly."

"But how can half-calls happen at all if calling an arkaetre requires magic and shifter discs change how your magic works? Shouldn't all magic be blocked while the disc is in?"

Kaces's face passed through several states of emotion. Eventually, he murmured, "That would mean..." He sat up suddenly. "Dzirksteles." The tiniest of sparks appeared in front of Kaces, and we both stared at the spot in awe. "No wonder Kireveans were feared during the war if their magic wasn't completely blocked by shifters!" Kaces exclaimed.

Suddenly, the door to the cell on my side opened, and a mysterious man that I had surely never seen before stepped in, closing the cell door behind him. I sat up in confusion. He was dressed as an Order guard, but something about his face reminded me of Kaces. I would have dismissed that fact as nothing if Kaces hadn't urgently whispered, "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Benia," the stranger said, and then, as if a curtain had been lifted, I recognized him as Councilor Blaine. "I could ask you the same thing," he put forth dryly, "but there isn't time for that." He lit his white dragon symbol and touched an inconspicuous section of the wall with his magic, lowering the barrier between me and Kaces. "Councilor Vuhmal wants to question you two about the location of the other Councilors. We have to leave before he arrives."

Kaces frowned. "Why? Shouldn't we tell him?"

"You're not going to get through to him. Vuhmal is only looking for information that could incriminate you further, and he's not very patient. I have it on good authority that as soon as he has any sort of proper reasoning, he plans to kill you two himself." Councilor Blaine gestured for Kaces to cross the room and pulled a small, strangely-shaped metal tool from his pocket. "Speaking of which, who is your friend here?"

I was about to clarify that I wasn't his friend when Kaces said, "Siderion. He was one of the mages kidnapped along with the Councilors."

"You were the one who kidnapped me!" I snapped, getting in his face as he approached us. "You said yourself that you thought it was the right thing to do at the time!"

Kaces sighed and pushed me gently to the side as he put his cloak back on. "It's complicated," he told the Councilor.

"We have much to talk about," Blaine intoned. He took Kaces's arm, pushed up his left sleeve, and sat him down on the end of my cot, studying his disc and the scales surrounding it. "Know that I'm only taking this out because having your magic at hand will be important if we're caught," he said to Kaces. "I'm still not sure if I trust you. Thankfully, I can afford to take the risk, as I have good reflexes." Kaces tried to say something, but the Councilor cut him off. "I know your magic isn't completely blocked, but surely you'd be better off without the disc, right?"

Surprised, Kaces nodded and looked away, and Blaine began fiddling with the red shifter disc. I saw several more scales form around Kaces's arm. I wanted to feel sorry for him, but I couldn't just ignore the fact that he was the same man who'd crashed through the Order roof and allowed my parents and half the Council to be captured. After a few tense minutes, the disc came loose, and Kaces nearly chance-called before quickly swiping his arm and incanting, "Merus." His scales vanished.

Councilor Blaine looked to me as Kaces stood up and healed the spot. "Your turn." I sat on the other side of Blaine, and he wedged the ice-cold metal underneath my disc. As soon as he began to move it around, I felt the needle deep in my arm and nearly cried out, but opted to grit my teeth through it.

"What was that spell you used before?" Kaces asked the Councilor.

"Kefen-Benia is a personal spell I designed many years back to disguise me and other Councilors in public."

Kaces smiled wryly. "I always thought that I made that spell myself. It was one of the reasons you didn't recognize me during the Council attack."

"Well, that eases my conscience a little. You always had a good memory." Blaine moved on to the back part of the disc and I inhaled sharply. He chuckled. "Nobody ever likes having a shifter disc removed. Especially the ones that aren't meant to come out."

"This isn't your first time?" I said, bewildered.

"Oh, definitely not. I've been fighting against the Kirevean laws for years. This tool was never meant to exist, but I studied the old shifter disc designs and discovered its concept, and I've been helping the Kirevean cause ever since." The disc finally popped out and he smiled in satisfaction. "Noble work, if you ask me."

"Thank you," I breathed, wiping the bead of blood off of my arm. I lit my symbol to heal myself and welcomed its Dark, griffin-shaped glow.

"What now?" Kaces asked abruptly, scowling at the room around us.

"I did my best to clear the prison security before I arrived, but I can't guarantee your safety yet and I can't teleport you to safety until we're outside the Order grounds. There's a magic-specific barrier around the headquarters specifically designed for cases like this. Typically, I'd send you on your way after we leave the grounds, but I think this particular occasion calls for me to pay a visit to some old friends. Disguise yourselves, keep your symbols lit, and come with me."