The Rifts of Psyche by Kyle West (i love reading .txt) 📕

But he knew such a notion was foolish. Not with her right there and dozens of Mage-Knights at her beck and call, and his friends taken belowdecks to some unknown place.

At that moment, he felt his manacles loosened, and they clanked onto the deck below. He blinked in surprise.

“I hope you weren’t treated too roughly,” she began. “I instructed Kiani to bring you and your companions to me unharmed. What we have to discuss is far too important to leave anything to chance. I hope you will forgive me that.”

To Lucian’s surprise, he did want to forgive her while the sincerity in her soft eyes made him want to instantly agree with anything she said. But he couldn’t do that. He had to find his wits and meet her head on. His friends’ lives were at stake, and so was the fate of the Orb of Binding.

He cleared his throat. “I’m wondering what you want with me. And to be honest, I expected you to look . . . different.”

“Is that so? Well, this is me, body and mind. I’ve discovered how to do things with magic that most mages would deem impossible. I’ve had fifty years to practice, after all.”

“Is this some illusion designed to trick me?”

“Trick you?” She laughed. “No. This is really me.” She extended a hand. “You can touch me, if you wish, and see for yourself. Or, you could ward yourself so you know I’m not tampering with your mind. I promise I’m not doing so, even now. But I understand if you want to for your peace of mind.”

Lucian hastily shook his head. “Err . . . no. I’ll take your word for it.”

She nodded graciously. “Very well. Suffice it to say, this body is mine. Yes, I’m nearly a century old, Lucian, and yet I have used magic to stay young. I must be young, for there is much I have yet to accomplish in the Worlds. Indeed, my designs are only beginning.”

From the way her eyes focused on him, Lucian knew those designs included him.

He streamed a Psionic ward around himself. Her appearance remained the same, only proving she was telling the truth. Her violet eyes remained rooted to his, as if she were already familiar with him.

“Nothing to say?” Her voice seemed somewhat disappointed. “This moment, so pivotal in my dreams . . . and now you stand before me. Exhausted, dirty, and defeated.”

Her silence afterward was brutal and cold. Lucian knew she expected him to defend himself, even to defy her.

He could never give her that. He had to somehow divorce himself from his feelings. His friends were depending on him.

“I apologize if I’m not the hero you were expecting. Probably because I’m not.”

When she turned, her eyes were angry at first. But then, she smiled, as if Lucian had told a joke.

“You underestimate yourself, Lucian. The raw material is there. But it will take a delicate and practiced touch to refine that into something magnificent. Even without refinement, you managed to find the Sapphire of Starsea.” She watched him a moment for a reaction. “Do you really not see it? Why do you think the Manifold has brought you to Psyche, Lucian? Has brought you to me?”

The Manifold? That didn’t bring him to Psyche. The Transcends were responsible for that. He knew he had to answer her, because there was nothing more dangerous than a woman who was ignored or stonewalled. There wasn’t only his life to consider.

“I was expelled from the Volsung Academy,” he said. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Wrong,” she said. “You are the Chosen of the Manifold, Lucian. You are the one fated to bring the Orbs together. You are the one Arian prophesied to save magic and magekind from annihilation at the hands of the Starsea Cycle.” She gave a small shrug. “Or not. There is nothing in that prophecy that guarantees your success. That is why we must begin our work at once to ensure your survival.”

“You have the wrong man,” he said. “I’m not the only one with an Orb, after all.”

She watched him closely, as if trying to guess what he knew. And Lucian realized he’d slipped up. As far as he knew, she didn’t know that at least one other Orb had been found. But it was clear from her lack of surprise that this wasn’t news to her.

“My own prophecies point to you being the Chosen, whatever Orbs have or haven’t been uncovered. Do you not hear whispers in the dark, Lucian?”

At once, he was reminded of the strange voice. That voice hadn’t spoken to him for months. But that voice had told him to find the Orbs, and to bring them to him. He had almost driven it completely from his memory.

“How do you know about that?”

“I know as much as you do. And more.”

His heart started beating faster. “Then who is that voice?”

“You know who it is.”

Lucian thought back to his conversation with the Oracle of Binding. She had mentioned that when the Immortal was defeated, he had somehow joined the Manifold. He wasn’t sure exactly how that worked, but the implications were terrifying.

“The Voice of the Manifold itself is calling to you. It is evidence that you are indeed the Chosen. For it is the Manifold that wants to bring the Orbs together. Such is the natural balance of things. You are the agent to make that happen. It has chosen you.”

“But Arian’s prophecy only talked about the Orbs,” Lucian said. “He didn’t say there would be any Chosen to bring them together.”

“You speak in ignorance. No one has deciphered the totality of Arian’s Prophecy of the Seven. All we have are bits and pieces, as each mage who can read it is only allowed to see a small part of the overall masterwork. The part the Manifold wishes to reveal.”

Lucian thought back to that night long ago on Volsung when he had read the mad ramblings of that text. All of it had been