Jaux Ballad has always wanted to enter the realm of magic, but could not do so by regular means. In his desperation to become a magician he finds himself with more power, and more trouble, than he could ever have imagined.

*=+=*=+=*=+=*

When a question is asked, there's a different manner of speaking. A tone that allows you to hear a question as easily as you could hear sarcasm.

There were no words. Doon communicated with tones of intention, a communication without a shred of specificity. More sophisticated than trying to understand a baby's cries and grunts, and just as difficult.

Suhara smiled as she finally recognized what she was feeling as she interacted with Doon. Back on the streets of Welldrop, this was how she tried to communicate with wandering animals. All her focus concentrated on trying understand their thoughts when they tilted their fuzzy heads. If she thought they were hungry, she would try to spare them some of her food. Now it was a bit switched. This time, she felt like the furry animal in need of support.

Suhara stepped forth and touched the rough bark of the ancient tree. There wasn't any pain, but a particularly strong numbness crept into her fingers, then up her arm.

Her magic was brushed aside and replaced with weakness.

Though unexpected, the young girl didn't pull away. Doon meant her no harm, she could understand that much. At a certain point, just past her elbow, the dark magic refused to drain away. The soul of Theema pushed back, refusing to yield any more territory. That was the limit of what the Gallain could remove.

But, it was enough. Doon's magic poured out from the tree's surface. It slid over the affected arm, flowing like cool sand over the numb skin. Once it reached the border between the empty arm and Theema's soul, the tree's magic seeped deep into the arm. Doon rooted itself into the girl's bones.

The feeling of something new. Something Suhara felt when she first transformed into a girl. The weight of new objects, and the conflicting mentality between what she was used to, and what had replaced it. Her right arm looked like it always did, but it was undeniably new.

Even if darkness didn't shroud the world, it was doubtful that anyone could see what was different about Suhara when she left Gallain.

Well, there wasn't anyone to see her in the first place, so it didn't particularly matter.

The nails of Suhara's right hand were as black as the endless night. They felt smooth, but not slippery, like freshly sanded wood. The bones in her arm were in the same state.

If one had the vision of magic, they would know that Theema's tattoos still covered the young girl's body. However, while most of them gleamed with purple light, the patterns on the right arm were dull.

There were no details of what exactly changed, but Suhara was sure that both her arms now carried abilities far beyond a wand. The demon root no longer rested in her hand, but its magical properties were dormant beneath her skin.

Her left arm held the presence of Theema, while Doon of Gallain occupied her right.

Just as Suhara stepped away from the edge of Gallain, she allowed her magic to surge. When the power converged into her right arm, a ball of sky blue mist formed. The magic's dim radiance lit away the shadows. Her motion missile spell could be cast directly from her fingertips, and it was noticeably larger.

While Suhara gazed into her hand, a memory decided to return.

It always managed to escape her notice, because that was its design. Suhara stared at the ever-present stone bracelet bound to her wrist, which offered her the ride home.

=+=+=

Many mages were disappointed to see Suhara return unharmed. They didn't wish death upon the innocent, but they desperately desired for the dark catastrophe to finally be stopped. To be confronted with eternal hopelessness was almost worse than losing the light of the sun.

Frey and Tricks were happy to see their young friend safe. The death of another dear companion was something they never wanted to endure. Although Raycern had provided an explanation to Frey, seeing Suhara's face in person was still a greater alleviation.

Tricks was the first to see Suhara reappear, since the dimensional bracelet brought Suhara back to their dorm room.

Well... close enough. Tricks was the first who recognized Suhara, at least.

A few other strangers witnessed the moment of the young girl's return. All the dorms now held a decent group of people, since the Lyceum had many refugees to take care of. Small villages and towns had been completely evacuated due to the Void Skies. The Lyceum was one of the safest fortresses in the world, so a larger concentration of people were hidden behind the walls.

It was no longer viable to station mages outside, considering the deaths that were piling up. It took too much dimensional magic to transport large groups of people, so the evacuation was done with physical transportation.

That had its own risks. A few crowds were lost to attacks on the road, which no one could do anything about. But, once a group arrived at a sanctuary, everyone could be relieved. Even the dull gray walls of the Lyceum were shining stars compared to the current state of the world.

With the Gallain plan written down as a failure, the various leaders and archmages were gathered back up for further discussion.

Suhara didn't attend. In fact, she didn't tell many people about what happened with Doon. Obtaining power from a mystic flora wasn't something that would stop Theema, not directly in any case. Very few people knew the details of what happened inside Gallain. As far as most were concerned, it just wasn't possible to remove Theema's connection.

Suhara had forgiven the old man, since Frey explained the true intention of involving Gallain. It was for her sake. She was still a bit bitter about being kept in the dark, despite her complete understanding. Logic had a tough time overruling emotion.

=+=+=

Blinding purple light shot down from the black heavens, momentarily lighting up the western wall of the Lyceum of Marlifa. At its point of impact with the ground, the dark goddess Theema stood.

The pillar of light had caught the attention of many, and people soon crowded over every window they could reach.

The gemstones of Theema's mystical items provided enough radiance to light the world around her. Behind the goddess was a small collection of creatures bound with black armor, the living weapons of the goddess.

When she looked through a window, Suhara recognized one of the living weapons. The scarlet-haired vampire was among those who stood behind Theema.

It had been only hours since Suhara returned from Gallain. This was clearly not an coincidence, Theema had been alerted.

The archmages were quick to move as well. Mere seconds after Theema's arrival, Headmistress Helsfur and her fellow teachers appeared between Theema and the Lyceum. Other prominent mages soon joined Helsfur, including the High Priestess Melidea and the Muse.

For a moment, there was some confidence in everyone's eyes. Theema was frighteningly powerful, but vastly outnumbered. They had a chance.

It didn't take long for most of that confidence to fade into the night.

A swirling purple portal tore open in the dark skies, and an army of demonic priests rushed out. Vampires, ghouls, oni, and countless other types of monstrous creatures arrived.

There were no advantages to waiting any longer.

Helsfur launched a ball of green light from her hand. It shot up and over Theema's army, then exploded into a huge heap of string. Most of the demonic priests began to crumble into the ground upon touching the falling thread.

The Muse was next to step up. She held up her staff and pointed it towards the army. The circular harp on the end of her staff began to play on its own. The song, if it could be called that, was terrible. A choir of snapping cords grinding against glass would sound better. It appeared to be worse for the invading creatures, who joined the horrifying tune with agonizing screams.

Unfortunately, Theema and her living weapons were unaffected by both attacks.

The biggest of the living weapons rushed towards the gathering of leaders and archmages. Along with his size, he also had a patchwork of shiny scales instead of skin. Theema's purple light and Helsfur's green light were all that lit away the shadows, so there wasn't a way to decipher the true color of the scales.

Suhara never saw a creature quite like the large living weapon, but it seemed every other archmage did. Shields and wards burst out from countless staves, forming a fortress of dazzling protection magic.

When the large living weapon collided with one of the shields, he exploded. Several defensive spells were snuffed out by the force, and numerous mages were knocked back. At the epicenter of the explosion, the large living weapon began to regenerate.

First, what appeared to be a giant cubed heart floated up. Melidea immediately pointed her staff towards it, and fired off a torrent of bright orange energy.

Too late, the black armor of Theema's living weapons had already reconstructed itself around the large heart, protecting it from the energy. The scaly living weapon reformed mere seconds later. Before it could detonate once more, one of the recovering archmages blasted it back with a white pulse.

=+=+=

"We shouldn't just be watching," said Suhara. "We need to go help them."

Frey shook her head. "She's after you, and if she succeeds... I don't think we'll be able to get you back a second time."

"Still, get a load of these other folks," said Tricks. "What's their excuse for standing around doing nothing? A herd of pigs would be more useful."

Suhara lifted her right arm, considering her options. She wasn't sure if she was ready, since there wasn't enough time to test anything out. What could she do?

The goddess was the key to the whole mess. Theema had to be drawn out and defeated.

Somehow.

"Frey," Suhara suddenly spoke up, "could you take me up to the roof?"