Father took his place at the head of the table. A small smile painted his face. "For years magi have plagued this land. We have tried and failed to eradicate them many times. Today, although we lost many soldiers, we may have found a vital weak spot."

One of the senate members turned to him. I remembered her from my childhood. Cameyah Lustra. She hated magi more than most.

She was a migrant from Sifa. Apparently, her family was slaughtered by Spirits.

She remarried when she got here. He was a soldier.

By the look on her face, I assumed he was one of the soldiers killed on the elite squad.

"Does it even matter if we found a weak spot? They're getting more powerful. Soon enough they'll take back Kalheim." She didn't bother to bow.

Father didn't mention her lack of respect which proved what I had been thinking. She was grieving. "We have many theories about what happened in Shena. However, that is not what I called you here to discuss today."

He put his hand on the shadow box in front of him. "Inside this box, there is a stone. The magi call it 'The Stone of Celeste'. We don't know why yet, but when the stone was put into this box the Map attacking us lost all of her magic. When we returned home we learned that not only had she lost her magic, all of the Maps had."

Another senate member leaned forward. "Do we think they all lost their magic?"

He shook his head. "Just the Maps. But that doesn't mean there aren't other objects like this stone."

I looked at the box. "If we were to take the stone out, would she gain her magic back?"

He gave me a look of warning. "Why would we take it out?"

I pushed my curiosity down. "Let me rephrase. If the stone was taken out, would she gain her magic back? The magi clans have worked together since the dawn of time. The Maps may no longer have the power to stop us but nothing is stopping the Spirits or the Plagues from invading and freeing them."

He pondered my question for a moment. "How about we find out?"

We all looked at him with confusion. I was the first to speak up. "How would we do that safely?"

"We go down to the cellar and open the box in a cell with one magi. The magic would still be contained in the room if it did work. Only those who are interested have to come."

...
We made our way down to the cellar. Only a handful of people had stayed.

We could hear the screams of the prisoner as soon as we opened the second door.

Father made his way to the cell and led the rest of us in.

The cell she was in had bars in the middle. It was usually used for questioning. Someone less important would torture the magi while a higher-ranked officer or even the king would question them from the other side.

We all found our places on the safe side of the cell.

The magi was a mess. She was barely clothed and the little fabric that remained was stained with blood.

Her clan marks were barely visible under the blood.

Yet she ran to the bars as soon as she saw us. "They're going to find you." She cried.

Father ignored her and set the shadow box on the ground.

She screamed at him. "If you don't release me you're all going to die! The Plagues will come after you!"

He laughed at her. "I'll take their artifact too then."

She slid to the ground. "Irina will burn you alive."

He looked up at her. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"

She laughed. "Is yours supposed to mean something to us?"

Father and the guard shared a look. She hadn't mentioned that name before.

Hours of torture and questioning and this was the first bit of information she had given us.

She smiled slightly. "You think you're so much better than us. In reality, you know nothing. I hope you all die like your comrades."

Cameyah stalked towards her. "I hope you realize you're going to die a painful death in this cell."

Father shot her a warning glare. She ignored it.

The Map gave her a wicked smile. "If you really think about it, Nevus killed more of your men than I did. I only controlled his mind. His body did all the stabbing."

Nevus was her husband.

Cameyah lunged at the bars and another guard held her back. "You do not get to speak of him that way!"

The Map grabbed the bars and pulled herself to her feet. "Your people attacked a peaceful village and you're telling me I can't speak ill of a murderer? Your husband was a terrible man. He deserved everything I did to him. He deserved to be forced to kill dozens of his closest friends. He deserved to be stabbed by the very king you kneel to. Death was kind. Veya would've given him much worse."

"Who the Hell are these people that you keep bringing up?" Father yelled.

She spat at him. "I'm sure you'd love to know."

His face turned red with rage. Something hit her and she was suddenly on the ground.

She laughed. "I am in this cell because I was willing to spend the last hours of my life getting all the innocent people out of my home. I know you plan to kill me here. Why in Celeste's name would I give you any information?"

Father opened the shadow box. The Map gasped and the guard holding Cameyah threw her against the wall.

He shut the box again and the guard stopped moving. He looked completely disoriented and went to help Cameyah up.

Father smiled. "I think you've given us all the information we could ask for."

She screamed at us as we left the cellar.

I heard her start to sob before the door shut.

I glanced at father as we started to go up the stairs. "These people, they might be some sort of group."

"Which people?"

"Veya, Irina, her."

"Why do you think that?" He raised his eyebrows.

"They're different types of magi, Veya is a Spirit, Irina a Flame. It seems strange that they would know each other."

He nodded. "Irina is a Hariji name. Veya sounds like a name from Calla but we don't have any records of one that lives there. Do you think that was the 'they' she was talking about?"

"It's probable."

...
I did not make the chapters have titles this time

It was a good choice.

Do not be vibing with this so far but I'll get there.

(Also I'm going to put a map up sometime soon, but for now, just trust me when I say Hariji isn't close to Shena.)

<3