Immortal Consequences

August, a “special” magic specialist, stumbles through a door in the Ether onto a paved road floating in a star-filled void. He recognizes that Headmaster Silas is obstructing his magic. A transitioned girl appears. “Zombie”-like, she delivers a warning that the Ether “casts judgement on the forsaken one” and demands sustenance to maintain balance (252). She disappears and a transitioned boy arrives. The boy seems more like a normal soul. He says he has walked the Ether for over a century but has not yet become like a zombie. He begs August to stay a while to offer him company, but August suddenly recalls his mother’s death and rejects the boy’s plea. He continues on alone.

Wren arrives in a mountainous expanse of the Ether. She senses August is with Emilio and Olivier and feels a pang of jealousy. In a flashback, she remembers what she recently told Louise: that she prefers to work alone because she fears hurting someone again after the accident in her past life.

Wren tracks and reaps her target soul, feeling physical strain. She senses eyes on her. A sentient shadow surges at her and scrambles her senses. The ground breaks away, and she plummets into the Shadow Lands as the creature tears at her body and soul.