The Edge of Ruin

Prologue

The sky above them was dark and starless, as it always was. The only light came from the runes glowing faintly along the Fifth Spire, a tall, imposing stone structure that clawed its way into the endless night like a withered finger. Alex had always been a little freaked out by the Spires, but she'd sooner eat her foot than tell anyone that.

Fingers snapped in front of her face, shaking her attention from the Spire.

"For the last time," Caeneus said, his weather-worn face almost invisible in the night. "Pay attention."

"Sorry," Alex said. She turned away from the Spire, squaring her shoulders and planting her feet as she faced him. She raised her arms to imitate his, hands balled tightly into fists. "You were saying?"

"I was saying," he said, rolling his shoulders. "I hope you've improved since our last session."

Alex grinned, unbaling a fist to wave him over. "Try me, old man."

Caeneus snorted, and Alex had no time to prepare before he'd thrown the first punch. She ducked, but his other fist was waiting patiently, directly in her path. She swore, stumbling backwards, jaw smarting, and Caeneus chuckled. She gritted her teeth, taking advantage of his glee and going for his ribs, hand flattened into a sharp edge. He dodged, but she'd anticipated that and waited for his momentum to draw him over her already sweeping leg. He stumbled, tilting an eyebrow at her, an impressed glint shining in his eye.

"Not bad," he said. "But you're still not watching your surroundings."

It was then that Alex realised the glint in his eye was not one of pride, but the faint sheen of his dynamis. His ability. She whirled around, heart hammering, to find the dark sand they'd been sparring on raised into a wall-like wave behind her.

"Dammit." She said, and was swallowed by the darkness.

Three hours and several more sparring sessions later, she was still shaking sand out of her hair and Caeneus was still chuckling intermittently. He'd allowed her a ten-minute break from 'falling on her arse'.

"You're not funny," she grumbled, shaking her shoe over her knee. A river of sand spilled out.

"Chiron says I am, and that's enough for me," her mentor grinned, leaning leisurely against the Spire. How he could stand to be so close to it, Alex would never understand. She hated being near any of them. They gave her the heebie-jeebies.

"How am I supposed to learn if you never let me win?" She said, standing and removing her jacket to shake it out. "Keep my morale up, and all that?"

"If you're expecting your opponents to let you win so that you can feel better," Caeneus raised an eyebrow. "I'm worried about you guarding this Spire on your own."

"I won't be on my own, though," Alex smirked. "Tay- I mean, Kharon - will be there to help me."

"Careful with that," Caeneus said. "You know the rules."

"Of course I know," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm just tired. It's been a long night."

Using anyone's real name here was dangerous. It was unlikely that the knowledge could ever be used to harm them, but nothing was impossible. And you could never tell who was lurking in the dark, listening.

"Really? For all your lying on the ground, I figured you'd have gotten at least a few winks in by now."

"I haven't been lying, I've been falling, because you've been pushing me –"

"Quiet," Caeneus hissed suddenly.

"Don't you 'quiet' me –"

"Alex," he said, voice low and sharp. Her attention snapped to him, drawn by the fact that he'd never once used her real name here. She found him staring, pale as a ghost, into the darkness beyond the Spire. The glow of the runes didn't reach very far, so their surroundings were entirely invisible to them.

"What's the matter?" She asked, heart thudding as she moved to stand beside him by the Spire. Her dislike of it was briefly overruled by the expression he wore; one she'd never seen before.

Fear.

As quickly as she'd noted the expression, he'd covered it with cold resolve. This was Caeneus, Oneiroi of the Second Spire, someone far more formidable than her aged mentor. Someone she was glad not to face in true battle.

"Something is coming," he said, tracing his fingers up the ivory bracers that encircled his forearms. Small copper trails glowed in the wake of his fingers, runes awakened by his command. The glint in his eye when he'd used his dynamis earlier strengthened into a glow, bright enough to light the night, his irises the same brilliant white as the runes on the spire. The ivory rivulets that criss-crossed his skin like veins also began to take on the glow, pure liquid light spilling from his eyes to trace the ridges of his face and exposed forearms.

"What is it?" Alex said. She'd never seen him use his bracers before; he'd never had need for his full powers in their training sessions. The few times he'd had to dispel smaller Nightmares, the meagre power he'd had without the use of his bracers had been enough. For him to be using them now ...

"I don't know," he said, voice grim. "But it's big."

Alex swallowed, squaring her stance and narrowing her eyes. "What should I do?"

"Go get help. Now."

"What?" She gaped at him. "And leave you? Are you insane? No, I'll –"

"Alex," he said, again. His tone was cold as steel. "Go. Now." He glanced at her. "You are nowhere near ready to fight one of these. I need Chiron. Go get him."

She blinked at him, registering the faintest crack in his façade. This was no time to argue.

"Okay," she nodded. "I'll be right back."

"No," he shook his head quickly. "Just send Chiron through. You and Kharon need to stay far away from this. Neither of you are ready."

She chose not to fight him further. She could hear a chattering now, coming out of the darkness beyond the glow of the Spire. It sounded like thousands of little bones knocking together, rhythmic and uncoordinated all at the same time. A chill ran through her.

"Be careful," she said, stepping closer to the Spire.

He winked, though the gesture looked forced. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

She turned away from him and faced the Spire, gritting her teeth and pressing her palm against one of the runes.

"Défteros," she whispered. Second.

The rune pulsed, and she spared a last glance at Caeneus behind her before she was swallowed by a glow of chilly light.

He was braced against the darkness, mouth set and eyes like steel. His ink-feathered Oneiroi wings were unfolding from between his shoulder blades, melding out of the darkness of his cloak. They were twitching in anticipation, tensed and ready for the fight ahead. In front of him, out of the shadows, came a Nightmare that chilled her to the bone, with thousands of chattering teeth and pincers and no eyes. It was almost as tall as the Spire, and it was not alone.

She never saw him again.

---

The Fifth Spire was not the only one to be hit that night. Reports came in from the Seventh and Third as well, though the Nightmares that attacked those were far weaker than those which had besieged the Fifth. Their Oneiroi had been able to dispatch the Nightmares with minimal injuries and no casualties.

The Second had not been hit, but by the time Alex had reached it – and Chiron - it had already been too late. He'd arrived to find the Fifth Spire overrun by more Nightmares than anyone had seen near a Spire in decades, Caeneus's body nowhere to be found.

For it was a body he had been looking for; the rune trails on his left bracer dulled and sputtering into an inky black. The colour of night; of death.

Chiron had barely had enough time to escape, back through the runes Alex had used, leaving the Fifth Spire to fall.

That night, the first cracks had appeared in the Barrier.