“Jump!” Lia said. “It is not far!”

There was a smashing sound as the door to the tower was finally forced open. Shouts and the thunder of boots on the stairwell sounded.

Marciana dropped and Lia and Reome both tried to catch her to break her fall. The force of her impact knocked them all down, but she was safely on the ground and spluttered with the smoke. Then sobbing, she clung to Lia’s neck and wept.

Marciana turned and looked up at him, shaking her head. “We were too heavy,” she cried. “He was holding the curtain with his hands.”

Kieran was out the window next, starting down the curtain length. They all stood as he hurriedly descended. But there was a ripping noise as the curtain came loose. Marciana shrieked. Lia stood in shock as he fell. She tried to rush in and cushion him but could not move fast enough. She watched the look and blaze of pain contort his face as he landed on his back. His head whipped back on the stone cobbles with a sickening crunch. His body lay still. Bystanders gasped with shock and scattered back, some screaming. The alleyway emptied, save for the girls.

Lia stared at Kieran’s body in shock. A stream of blood ran in the grooves of the cobblestones. Soot and ash rained down on them. She looked up at the mass of fire and then down at the fallen man. The Medium surged inside of her, building stronger and stronger. It was a flood, the pressure mounting, squeezing her, blinding her.

Marciana stared at Kieran, stricken, her eyes brimming with tears. Reome looked pale seeing a dead man at their feet.

“Close your eyes, both of you!” Lia screamed. They obeyed and she lifted her hand in the maston sign.

Lia made the maston sign by raising her hand in the air and touching the dead man’s forehead with her other. She recognized the pattern now, as she had seen it before. There was something sacred about death, especially a death offered as a willing sacrifice for others to live. She had participated in that sort of end herself, which allowed the Abbey’s defenses to flood the lowlands surrounding Muirwood and destroy the Queen Dowager’s army. The Medium’s will had been fulfilled and its power now could be fully invoked. Not for her benefit – never for her own benefit. But for the greater good of all.

“Kieran Ven, I Gift you with life. You will live and you will heal.” Her voice thickened with emotion as the power of the Medium continued to rush through her. “By Idumea’s hand, you will live, Kieran Ven. You will live and you will heal.”

The power of the Medium continued to surge through her. There were screams in her mind throughout Comoros. She could hear them all, a cacophony of despair and accusation. She could sense the blood of dead mastons calling out to her, clinging to her soul and shaking her with fury and revulsion. We are the dead mastons of this kingdom, murdered by our king because we would not forsake our oaths. The oaths which you have sworn yourself to pass the Apse Veil! Avenge us!

The Medium was a roar in her ears. The ash and cinders thickened like hail. It was still growing inside of her. It raged like the fire within the crumbling tower. Lia straightened, her hand still held high in the maston sign. Her blood thundered and boiled. She could only see the blaze of the fire above her. Her hand was pointed towards it. Not to quell it, but to feed it. She sensed the fire’s greedy urge to consume.

Unbidden words filled her mouth. They came in a foreign tongue, the ancient language of the Idumeans, given to her through her Gift of xenoglossia. “Pyricanthas. Sericanthas. Thas.” It was the sacred language to control fire. In her mind, it was nightfall and she saw the Stews burning.

* * *

“The Aldermaston of Dochte Abbey helps me a great deal. He explains the tomes in such a clear way that I am beginning to understand them. It used to be so frustrating when Colvin explained things, because I could not understand what he was saying, even though I wanted to and he grew angry. The key is to see the inner meanings. The Aldermaston showed me several passages today, for example, that spoke of the First Parents in the Garden of Leerings. It was of a serpent who whispered the truth of what they needed to do to gain the knowledge they required. The serpent is one of the aspects of Idumea. It is clear to me now. A way was provided to whisper the truth. That is a symbol of the Medium. The symbol of the serpent is the greatest manifestation of the Medium’s power. When I explained this knowledge to Colvin, he looked at me differently. It was a look of respect. I have never seen him look at me that way before. It happened often when Lia was nearby and it always made me jealous. Today it made me dizzy.”

- Ellowyn Demont of Dochte Abbey

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CHAPTER EIGHT: