The Budding Metalinguist

XLIV

Lillian didn't notice her phone was ringing until she sat down. After collapsing onto her bed, she abruptly noticed a regular buzz emanating from her back pocket. She fumbled and rolled over before she finally managed to slide her phone out of her pocket. The call was from Galena.

She took a split second to consider whether she should answer. Her first inclination was just to let it ring, but she realized that, given what she knew about Galena, she would probably continue to get calls until she answered. Reluctantly, she accepted the call and held the phone to her ear.

"Hello," she answered flatly.

"Lillian, hi!" Galena greeted. Her tone was clearly over-exuberant to match Lillian's general lack of enthusiasm. As was intended, Lillian felt guilty. She knew that Galena wanted to work with her, but at the same time, it was extremely awkward for Galena not to trust her.

"I have good news," Galena opened.

"Oh?" Lillian asked, her interest piqued.

"I talked to Ingrid. She's going to come in for an interview tomorrow afternoon. I think you should be there."

"All right," Lillian responded with obvious disinterest. She knew exactly what the interview with Ingrid would find, but she thought it was probably better if she just let Galena figure things out herself. "What time?"

"Around six, probably," Galena replied. "It's going to be after everyone leaves."

Lillian bobbed her head. "I'll be there." Before Galena could answer, she hung up.

It was already hard enough to hide her connection with Dakota from someone like Galena. Someone honest and good-natured and so interested in the case. But it would start becoming even harder now that she was working more with Galena. And given that it was already trying for Lillian to hide information or to lie, she would have to use all her efforts to make sure Galena didn't find out what she was hiding.

❦

"You said I should ask you about Sphinxes," Lillian prompted. She watched Dakota carefully, tracking his every move, as he paced across the arena. Dakota shuddered, slightly unnerved.

"I did," he confirmed. "I needed to tell you about Spalls."

"Spalls," Lillian repeated with quiet interest.

Dakota nodded. "Sphinxes are a type of Spall. So are Wraiths. The third type are called Ashes."

"I know what Sphinxes and Wraiths do," Lillian thought out loud. "But what are Ashes?"

Dakota smirked. "Spies. They really aren't dangerous. You can use metalanguage to call up a Wraith out of the Void. Once it enters the Alin Gap, it loses its power and becomes an Ash which can see and hear. You can then use the Ash to essentially spy on people or things. If someone is trying to use an Ash on you, you can use the Idea of Opening to return them to the Void."

"Don't you have to have the Ash in our world, first, then?"

"No," Dakota answered. "Using the Idea of Opening in the Alin Gap leads to the Void, unless it's being used on mirrors. It's impossible to bring Ashes into our world, anyway; they aren't able to enter mirrors. But that's trivial."

"What are Sphinxes then?" Lillian asked thoughtfully. "Where do they come in?"

"I'm not exactly sure where Sphinxes come from," Dakota responded honestly. "I'm pretty sure it has something to do with links between Wraiths. The idea is that when you transform linked Wraiths into Ashes, their partners get dragged into the Alin Gap and trapped as Sphinxes. Although I'm not entirely sure what links Wraiths."

"Oh," Lillian contemplated.

"I think you should learn how to create Ashes, though," Dakota suggested. "It's the Idea of Repurposing." He demonstrated, concentrating hard and making sure not to use a linked Wraith. If he had, he would risk summoning a Sphinx which would kill both he and Lillian. After a few seconds, an Ash began to materialize in the air in front of them. Like Sphinxes and Wraiths, it was entirely black and featureless. After Lillian examined it for a minute, he dismissed it back into the Void.

"You would need to use the Idea of Communication to find out what they see and hear, the Idea of Deception to disguise it, and the Idea of Opening to dismiss or dump it," Dakota explained.

Lillian promptly detached from the conversation and began preparing to use metalanguage. A few seconds later, another Ash abruptly appeared between them.

"Good," Dakota commented, dismissing it quickly. Spalls unnerved him. "You can practice if you'd like. You'll just need to open a rift to the arena again."

Lillian nodded and took the hint, stepping through the mirror. Dakota watched her go.

If it had been anyone else, he would have been nervous that they would make a mistake and accidentally get themselves killed. But Lillian was not one of those people who made him nervous about such things.

Lillian was an exceptional metalinguist. And she learned from her mistakes better than most. Dakota smirked. She would be fine.