“Take us to Nightingale,” Damiel told me.
He pressed the tip of his sword to Illias’s back. If we did pop up in the middle of a Magic Eater army, he already had a hostage. I hated that paranoia had to rule our actions, but at this point, it would have been foolish to blindly trust Illias. Especially when he and his people had celebrated our first arrival on their world by throwing us into prison.
But when I used the Diamond Tear dagger to return us to Nightingale once again, an army wasn’t waiting to take us down. That gave me some hope. I had been wrong to trust Colonel Spellstorm, but I was glad I hadn’t been wrong to have faith in Illias.
I’d brought us to the woods outside of Illias’s town.
“The sky looks different than it did last time. Everything feels different,” I told Damiel.
“It’s the moons.” Illias pointed at the two crescent moons in the sky. “They are waning now, growing smaller, unlike last time. That’s why you feel weaker.”
“Explain.” Damiel’s voice snapped like a whip.
“The moons of Nightingale determine the balance between active and passive magic. The conditions of any given world affect the magic on that world. Most worlds were made like the Earth was, where the magic is constant. But there are many worlds that were not made that way. Nightingale is among them.”
“What do you mean by ‘made’?” I asked.
“On those Earth-like worlds, even with the waning moon, you shouldn’t notice much difference in your magic,” the priest continued without expounding on the ‘made’. “But there are other kinds of worlds. Big worlds, small worlds. Worlds with more than one moon or no moon at all. Worlds with many suns. Worlds with lots of water, or hardly any water at all. On each of these worlds, your magic acts slightly differently.” He waved his hand to indicate his world. “On Nightingale, the balance of active and passive magic is tied to our two moons. If both moons are full, active magic reigns dominant. If both are dark, passive magic rules. In other words, the brighter the moons, the stronger active magic is. The darker the moons, the stronger passive magic is.”
“When we were here last week, one moon was waxing and one waning,” Damiel said.
Illias nodded. “And so active and passive magic were in balance. Now, however, both moons are waning. One of them is nearly dark. That’s why you’re feeling weaker.”
“You brought us here at a time when we are weak.” Damiel’s eyes narrowed. His jaw clenched up.
“The effect will pass as soon as you leave this world.” Illias waved us along. “Come. We must hurry. Time is short.”
He walked out of the woods, toward the town. Damiel and I exchanged heavy looks, then followed him. I didn’t like being lured here when we were weak any more than he did.
“How did you get to Earth?” I asked Illias.
“There are many passages between the worlds in the cosmos, many magic mirrors. But my journey to you on Earth was a long one. It was crucial that I come, though. It was crucial that we discuss this in private, not in the halls of angels, not when the gods could be watching. Or the demons.”
“Discuss what?” Damiel demanded, his patience clearly wearing thin.
“Not here. Just a little further, and then we’ll talk.”
We walked past partially-demolished houses. The town was still being rebuilt from our recent battle with the Hive. Angry eyes glared at us wherever we went.
“An army might not have been waiting to take us down, but the Magic Eaters aren’t all that pleased to see us again either,” I commented to Damiel.
“The people here appreciate what you did, how you drove out the Hive,” said Illias.
“But?” I prompted him.
He glanced at the Diamond Tear dagger strapped to my leg. “But, even so, some of them don’t like that you possess an immortal dagger, even though you acquired it on your own world.” His gaze shifted to the Sapphire Tear dagger that Damiel carried. “Nor is that vocal minority pleased that you now control the Sapphire Tear, which once hung in our temple’s Reliquary.”
“You gave it to us,” I reminded him.
“Yes, I believe it was meant to be,” he replied. “But not everyone here shares my belief that the guardian spirits chose you to wield the immortal daggers. I fear you aren’t universally popular here at the moment. Some people claim that you chased away the Hive, only to steal the daggers for yourselves. Others are suspicious of you just because your magic is different.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I said.
The priest shrugged. “Since when have paranoia and prejudice ever made sense?”
He had a point there.
“Enough small talk. It’s time to get to the point,” Damiel told him gruffly. “We are here because you claimed the Earth is in danger, not to reminisce about shared unpleasant experiences.”
“I used Colonel Spellstorm and his plot to get your attention. Because I must speak to you. This is too important. The fate of both our worlds depends on it. I had to get you away, where neither gods nor demons could overhear us. I don’t trust the Legion or the gods with this information. Or the demons, for that matter.”
“But you trust us?” I asked him.
“You might serve the Legion, but you are, above all, the Heirs to the Immortal Legacy. Yes, I trust you. The gods and demons would want these powers for themselves, but you are different. The guardian spirits have deemed you worthy. You have proven your worth to them—and to me as well.”
Illias showed us into a house, then he shut the doors behind us.
Damiel’s gaze swept the open room, obviously looking for anything that could be used as a weapon against us, then his eyes honed in on the priest. “What is this big secret? How will the Hive escape the spell we used to trap them on their world?”
“I thought the spell I wove with the Diamond Tear, the one trapping the Hive army on their world, was too powerful to be undone by anything but the same immortal dagger,” I added.
“Undoing it is difficult, yes,” replied Illias. “But it’s not impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible,” I declared.
“Exactly,” he agreed. “The Hive cannot undo the spell without the Diamond Tear. And they can’t break it. Not without the Sapphire Tear.”
I thought it through. “Even if they had the Diamond Tear and Sapphire Tear daggers, they might not be able to undo what I’ve done, not unless they have someone with enough Immortal blood to wield them well.”
“Perhaps.” Illias’s face was as cryptic as that single word.
“The Hive has people with Immortal blood?” I asked.
“There is a danger of that. As you know, to tap into an immortal dagger’s full power, its wielder must have the right mix of Immortal blood. It’s unlikely anyone in the Hive has that. It’s very rare. But, as you know, the Hive works by combining its members’ magic.”
“So if they bring together enough people with enough magic, they could potentially collectively wield the dagger to great devastation,” said Damiel.
“Yes.”
“But we have the daggers,” I pointed out. “So how will the Hive break the spell?”