Raven somehow managed to navigate back to the earth to land in front of the Morborium. The bitter cold whistled something fierce as the mountain gusts whipped through the street. He leaned against the black metal gate, exhausted.

  Valentine was waiting for him across the street. She gasped when he faced her. The right side of his face was caked in blood, and deep cuts littered his scalp. He cupped a hand tightly over that side of his face and slumped in fatigue. She had never seen him so weak.

  Rushing forward, she tore a strip of cloth from her coat and pushed his hand away to help bandage him. But when she saw the brutal wound around his missing eye, she gasped again, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Raven… what did you do?” she whispered, tears springing to her eyes. She swiftly wrapped the makeshift bandage around his head, covering up his wound the best she could.

  “There’s no time to explain,” he replied. “I have the seal.”

  “No!” she demanded. “I need to know. Why did you do this?”

  He looked at her softly. “Because the sisters were right. They were right.” He bowed his head, handing her back her pandora. “If there was a chance you could die without this seal… I couldn’t accept such a thing.”

  Valentine embraced him, weeping. They stood for a long while in the increasing snowfall, resting on each other. Finally, she pulled back, but kept her hands on his arms.

  “I see you, Raven! I see your heart. I see your heart for the world. But you are important to the world, too! And to me. For more than your mission.” She placed a hand over his heart. “You are more than a scheme.”

  He looked at her wearily, but managed a smile. He nodded and put his own hand over her heart.

  “Let’s find that tome.”

  In the depths of the Sea of Ennenteley, Sarratica and Harmony waited. At a wide juncture among the shimmering thorns, an extensive space had been cleared. The sisters had procured white panels of wood seamlessly fit together to form a wide, pure surface for the creation of a seal.

  “This is perfect!” Valentine exclaimed.

  Sarratica and Harmony approached Raven, taking in his new appearance with concern. But then a visible discernment came into Sarratica’s eyes.

  “Very clever,” she said. “Even so, it must have been dreadful.”

  “It was quite painful,” Raven replied. “But I have the seal.” He produced a rolled sheet of brown paper from his robes and handed it to her.

  She unraveled it, and together with her sister, they examined the complex seal formation. It didn’t take long for them to begin marveling at what they were looking at. Raven was equally astonished they understood its nuance. More and more, he was filled with desire to know more about this incredible, mysterious duo. If only there was more time.

  “This seal is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Sarratica said. “The inner seal’s hexagon formation is radical with its use of curved borders. Who came up with this?”

  “The Seal Master,” Raven replied. “The use of Ken runes to stabilize the outer seal off the edges is something I’ve never seen before. I understand now why he never wanted to give it up. His discovery of this method has opened up new avenues of exploration in seal creation theory.”

  “I don’t like that man,” Harmony said disapprovingly.

  “What’s done is done. I know this seal works because I’ve seen what it can do. It acts as protection from otherwise harmful effects caused by the use of Hydra. Can we proceed?”

  She reached out and placed a hand over his bandaged eye. Her warmth was electric, and Raven found himself wanting another hug from her. But she let go and nodded.

  “Yes, you can use the Depths,” she said, handing Valentine the black object. “But please be careful.”

  Raven got to work, producing a seal on the white surface with his pandora pen.

  “It looks like you’re making some changes,” Sarratica said, watching him work. It was hard to discern her facial expressions behind the mask, but he imagined she disapproved.

  “Yes, I am adding an overlay,” Raven said, finishing up the seal and looking it over. He produced Moon’s Ark and placed the pandora in a specially slotted space within the seal. “This pandora will document Valentine’s encounter with Valius Shrale. Once it is complete, we can revisit what occurred any time we please as a vision.”

  “Brilliant,” she admitted.

  He turned to the sisters. “Can Valentine and I have a moment alone?”

  They acquiesced and gave them space. Raven stood with Valentine in the midst of the seal, careful not to step on any runes or lines.

  “I’m going to be direct,” he said to her. “This is probably the last chance we have to obtain Shrale’s tome. If we don’t… all may be lost. We could appeal to the Pandora Society directly, but the time for the challenges is almost here. Van’s Thimbles have gathered up all the information they could, so I am hopeful their collective intelligence will be able to bridge the gap between Shrale’s one-hundred-year-old memory and what is available to us now.”

  “I’m nervous,” Valentine confessed. “Not about using the Depths. But what can I say to the man to convince him to give us the location of the pages?”

  “Outside of my beloved, you are the most forthright person I’ve ever known,” he replied. “Speak openly and honestly to him. Shrale’s soul remains in the depths of despair over his disparately degraded acts against Rue. If he is convinced we will save her, he should be eager to finally escape his own grief.”

  He handed her Valius Shrale’s pandora. “We place Fallowreyk’s justice in your hands, Valentine Chessex. I know you can do this.”

  She nodded in determination. He departed from the seal and joined Harmony and Sarratica to observe. Valentine breathed deep and took the two halves of the Depths of Thine Spirit. The forked metallic objects featured grooves which allowed her to cross them together and hold them in place. When she did, a luminescent orb of light appeared above the completed relic, glowing softly. She took Shrale’s pandora and raised it above the orb.

  With a shake of her head, she sighed. “My father is going to be so mad at me for this.”

  She inserted the pandora into the sphere of light, where it remained floating within, basking in its glow. Then she retook hold of the other handle. When she did, mirage-like images appeared within the seal, crystalizing into two distinct forms. In moments, two reflections of Valentine appeared, facing each other in a triangle formation.

  Raven immediately understood. One of the two Valentine clones bore deep scars on her face, arms and legs.

  “Valentine Mind, Sword, and Shield – the spiritual personas split into tangible form by the Depths,” he said, folding his arms.

  “Dividing so that one may conquer,” Harmony said. “Only a Lamgardian could survive this ritual in the physical world.”

  Valentine Sword lifted her hand to touch Shrale’s pandora within the orb of light.

  “Wait,” Valentine Shield protested. “You must let me go this time.”

  “No,” Sword answered firmly. “I will protect you both.”

  “You’ve always protected us,” she replied back, shedding a tear and touching her hand. “And you bear the scars to prove it. Please let me go this time. It’s my turn to protect you.”

  Valentine Sword’s eyes widened a bit at her display of affection. Finally, she smiled. “Thank you, Shield.” But then she reached out and touched the pandora. “But I cannot allow it. You will be safe!”

  All went dark.

  Valentine Sword opened her eyes.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  The first light came from the stars. In and through the deep darkness, millions of stars provided the smallest of glittery particles of illumination. The second light then grabbed her attention. A band of white-hot runes streaked across the horizon, forming a basis for her vision.

  Was she outside? Inside? She could not perceive her surroundings. She knew she was standing on something solid, but other than that, she recognized nothing. She followed the path of the band with her eyes, turning in place. A third light soon came into focus. A cone of light descended from an unknown place to dimly illuminate a large object. What it was, Valentine could not tell… at first.

  But as she drew closer, details provided frightening clarity. A man was pinioned to something metal, like a beam. But the shape was not clear because something else obscured it. She could only liken it to a giant worm, bulbous and slimy, covering up most of the man’s body and slinking up and around the metallic supports to which the man’s arms were fastened.

  She stood aghast at the sight of what could only be compared to a torturous encounter with a monster. The vision was complete when she looked upon the man’s face. The visage was recognizable, though not easily. But after remembering why she was here, she realized it could only be Valius Shrale. The man who appeared so dignified in his paintings and statues was now a shriveled thing, with wispy thinning hair and a mangled goatee. And he was crying, tears streaming steadily down his face. Valentine immediately noticed the deep burn mark on his forehead, in the distinct shape of a human eye with a star for a pupil.

  Valius was not only crying, however. He spoke something, faintly. She ventured closer, stepping into the cone of light. And when she did, she discerned his words.

  “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” he lamented over and over.

  It was just as Raven described. Valentine was flabbergasted by the scene. The slimy worm-like entity wriggled and undulated in place, wrapping up its prisoner with aggressive attachment. Was this what all souls endured within pandora? She immediately thought of her brother and sister, currently sitting in her pocket. Her anger flared at the thought.

  “Valius Shrale,” she said.

  Upon hearing her voice, Valius’s eyes opened in surprise. He blinked rapidly, as if he’d not opened them in a long time, searching through the haze of his bleariness. But when sight was finally restored, he looked upon Valentine in wonder.

  “Who are you?” he asked, attempting to adjust his position but ultimately failing to do so.

  “My name is Valentine Chessex.”

  He examined her head to toe. “A Chessex… one of the old families of Lamgard. Which explains your presence. You must have utilized the ancient relic called the Depths of Thine Spirit to appear within the complex of my prison.” He looked left and right. “The monstrous spirits ever tormenting me appear to have been mostly banished. The ring of runes encircling me are a new phenomenon. Hmm… no doubt the result of some seal intended to protect your psyche from them. Very interesting. Although…” He looked up. “…I would postulate the seal will not hold them for very long.”

  “Your assessment lives up to your reputation,” Valentine replied.

  The man’s clarity seemed to replace his sorrow for the moment. She couldn’t help but compare him to Raven. Calculating and straight to the point. The similarity was truly uncanny.

  “With each passing second, my comprehension returns. I have heard voices in my dreams… one of which I deemed very powerful. It was not yours.”

  Valentine repressed the desire to scowl. “I am the one who interpreted the clues in your Tetropolis and discovered your study.”

  His gray eyebrows rose. “Truly? Then I understand your presence. You wish to pry the location of the missing pages of my Star Tome from me.”

  “Such a conclusion is a given,” she replied. “But I wonder if you understand the reason. I would guess you don’t.”

  For the first time, Valius appeared uncertain. He evaluated her presence curiously, seeming to see her for the first time. In that moment, the ground shook and she turned. Monstrous black worms similar to the one incarcerating Valius appeared on the horizon, just beyond the rune barrier. Hundreds of them appeared, eyes glowing green, surrounding the dome of protection and growing. The creatures pounded their bodies against some invisible barrier.

  “Not much time,” Valius said tiredly. “Even a seal of great clout cannot contend against the malicious nature of pandora. I shall be relegated to condemnation once more, as I continue to deserve.”

  Valentine stared at him coldly. “When you snatched Sheeharu’s soul, dooming her to this same agony, was it regret for her life that you ruined, or your own?”

  “Stop, please stop,” he lamented, struggling against his slimy captor. “I believe you already. If you found my letter, then you should also acknowledge my immense grief. I have lived with this every minute of my miserable existence within the pandora.”

  “Your grief means nothing. Do you comprehend it has been a hundred years since your death? Even now, Sheeharu remains within your Chrysalis. Everyone she knew, all of her family… they are long dead. Because of you, she lost everything. Yet she remains, waiting for someone to rescue her. Alone in this pit of darkness within her pandora.”

  “A hundred years?” he repeated incredulously. “Has it truly been so long?”

  More worms appeared on the horizon, stacking on top of each other. The banging against the barrier increased in sound and clout. The runes of light started to crack.

  Valentine tsked. She was not afraid, but time was of the essence now. “Unlike you, Sheeharu has not sunk into despair,” she said, folding her arms. “She waits for her salvation, even now. You know this. You have felt her hope this past year, because I hold her pandora. You can feel the presence of your victim.”

  Tears ran down the man’s face again. “I… I was so… you just don’t understand.”

  “Help me understand. Help me save her.”

  “Is that why you want my tome?”

  “It is!”

  He looked around again, nervously. “I found something,” he said quietly. “Something I shouldn’t have. I considered it my greatest discovery at the time, but now I realize it was ultimately my doom.”

  “What did you discover?”

  “I dare not reveal it. My mind… my mind deserted me. My sanity abandoned me! Only after my death did I truly understand. This thing I discovered… it infiltrated my being and leached out of me. I wasn’t… worthy of it.” Valius shook his head. “Only after I performed my cruel act on Sheeharu did I understand what I had become. I knew then that my discovery should be destroyed. But… I just couldn’t do it. The world would lose something utterly precious!”

  Shame filled the man’s face. “So, I left it for someone else, a trusted friend. Implicit instructions on how to restore my tome. But only someone greater than me could find it. Lest they also go mad and destroy the whole world.”

  “Excuses!” Valentine shot back. “You banished Rue to hell! You just want to shift blame. Admit it! When she became the monster that was destroying the city, you could have replaced her soul that very hour. But you didn’t! You fled and sealed her up in that cocoon instead, because you didn’t want anyone to know what you did! She would have told the truth about you!”

  “I don’t need your forgiveness of my wicked deeds!” he shouted, shutting his eyes. New tears streamed forth. “But I know what happened! Madness enveloped me because of my discovery. Like a plague, it utterly consumed me! I never wanted to hurt Sheeharu. She was my student. But yes, I doomed her! Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  “I want to hear you will help save her life!” she shouted back, furious.

  “It would be a worse deed to allow the madness that consumed me to happen to anyone else. You cannot have the tome if you haven’t discovered it by now. The worthy must be proven! So just leave me be.”

  The wall of deadly worms now covered the entirety of the dome. The sounds of their bashing against the seal grew to a crescendo.

  “It’s been a hundred years, Valius,” she said quickly. “Whatever you left behind is gone. Don’t you think if anyone would have discovered the clues you intended, it would have been me?”

  He looked uncertain. “The Wall of Tanemborg is all I will say.”

  “The Wall of Tanemborg was destroyed,” she replied. “Some twenty years ago, as part of an expansion of the city.”

  “What?” he said, incredulous. The banging became riotous. “It’s truly gone?”

  “Just tell me where the pages are, Valius! Think of Sheeharu. End this charade and redeem yourself!”

  A blast exploded and they looked up. The dome of protection from Raven’s seal burst, and a flood of huge, black worms came crashing down all around them. Valentine covered her head as the wet creatures poured in waves. She pushed and scrapped ferociously, but the obnoxious creatures swarmed, devilish in their persistence.

  “Tell me, Valius! Tell me where the pages are!” she shouted. “Don’t you understand? This is your last chance to make this right! Save your student! Save your soul!”

  She dove through the wet, putrid pile of creatures, grabbing Valius by his exposed leg and pulling herself through. She just barely made out his face through the obstacles all around them.

  “Give me your answer!” she demanded.

  “I… I…” He clenched his teeth. “They were given to the Professor! My friend, the Black Rabbit!”

  “Who is that?’ she shouted.

  But before she could demand more, she was viciously yanked back. She lost grip of Valius’s leg. Huge worms piled onto her, suffocating her. She tried to push them away, but there was no space anywhere. The leeches consumed her. She tried to scream, but the creatures filled her lungs when she opened her mouth. Her vision faded, and the lights went out.

  Raven rushed forward when Valentine’s duplicates disappeared and she collapsed in a heap. He pushed the Depths away and propped her head up, checking her pulse.

  “She’s breathing,” Sarratica said.

  “Yes,” he said, feeling her head. “She seems to be okay.”

  He retrieved Moon’s Ark and Shrale’s pandora and then picked her up, carrying her in his arms. He used his feet to smudge the seal, rendering it dead.

  “Where can I take Valentine to recover?” he asked.

  “Leave her. We will see she is taken care of. We know time is of the essence.”

  “I will not leave Valentine here. Can you lead me to a proper bed?”

  Harmony smiled. “This way.”

  The sisters led him out of the Sea and back up to the entrance. A side door within the fake storefront led to a small office. A comfortable-looking couch sat at the end. Raven carefully laid Valentine down, checking her vital signs once more.

  When he was sure she was stable, he took Moon’s Ark and placed it against his eye. The vision of Valentine’s encounter came rushing to his vision. He couldn’t have been more shocked by the state in which Valius Shrale’s soul existed.

  “Rue…” he said sadly. “Is this terrible environment what you also endure? What are those… dark creatures?”

  “I never wanted you to know,” she replied. “The slimy bugs are ever present… trapping me and holding me to my loneliness. I loathe them.”

  “The Black Rabbit,” he said. “Sarratica, Harmony… does that name mean anything to you? Or the Professor?”

  The women looked at each other in confusion before shaking their heads.

  “What about you, Rue?” he asked.

  “Sorry, Raven.”

  He grit his teeth angrily. “Even in the end, Shrale refused to redeem himself properly. But at least we have something to go on.”

  He put a hand on Valentine’s forehead. “Well done, Val.” He turned back to the sisters. “When she wakes up, tell her to wait for me in my room. I will find her.”

  “She needs rest,” Sarratica protested.

  “Try and prevent her from attempting to join me. See how that works out for you.”

  She frowned. “Very well. Is there anything else we can do?”

  He grimaced. “I have to find this ‘Black Rabbit’ – Van is now my last hope. Van and his merry band of Thimbles.”