In all my years as a mage and professor of mental magicks, as the Moon Arcana, as a master of illusion and manipulation, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
If this were a movie, I’d call Ani a ghost.
But thisisn’ta movie. And unless we figure this out—and fast—none of us will live long enough for a happy ending.
“How are you existing like this?” I ask. “And what about your…” I gesture vaguely into the dark space the two Arcana monsters recently vacated, unsure what to call the Dark Sun. “The other one?”
Ani sighs. “He’s not really an ‘other,’ Cass. He’s me. Well, me with the soul stripped out. I’m the soul, essentially—something like it, anyway. They call him the Black Sun.”
“I don’t understand. How did this happen?”
“In the dream realm.” The red-hot shame in his cheeks is clear even in the darkness. “I was completely taken in by the Wand. Judgment and Chariot did a spell. Somehow they… I’m not sure how to describe it. It was as if they split me in two. He has a consciousness—some dim, base-level instinct that keeps it alive. But the rest of him… I don’t know. I feel like he’s all the worst parts of me, left behind in my physical body while the rest of me got forced out and banished here.”
“And where ishere?” I glance around and try to get a sense of things again, but all I can see is mist and shadow. “Are we near the Void? Or in the dream realm?”
“Not exactly.” Ani gets to his feet, the light around him dimming as he paces the small chamber. By that light alone, I get a better sense for the space—a smallish section that branches into the darker passageways of what’s probably a vast cave system. The walls are slick and smooth, the mist making everything colder than it otherwise would be.
“From what I’ve managed to pick up from their conversations,” he says, “this place—the cave, the mists, even the Void itself—is like a portal that exists in and connects multiple realms. The Dark Arcana can take form here, but they aren’t yet strong enough to fully manifest on the material plane.”
“But your… the Black Sun. Hehasmanifested. He—” I cut myself before saying it out loud. Ani doesn’t need to know what atrocities that monster committed in his name. Not now.
“I know, Cass. I know everything he’s done. Every flame he’s lit. Every life he’s taken. Every wound he’s inflicted. I may as well have torched that town myself.”
“Ani, none of that is your—”
“Don’t,” he says, and no matter how badly I want to talk him out of his guilt, I know I can’t. In this moment, all I can offer him is the respect of changing the subject.
“Stevie said something about the Magician planning to turn all the Light Arcana dark.” I tell him about her Winter Solstice ritual—everything the bastard revealed about his plans, including the part about her being a magickal creation not entirely of this world.
Of course, Ani already knew that part—the Black Sun was lurking around the house at Red Sands when Trello told us the story of Stevie’s conception, so Ani heard the whole story.
Still, at the mention of Stevie’s name, the light around him brightens just a fraction. “She confronted the Magician?”
“She sure as hell did. Tried to make a trade with the Arcana objects, but he wouldn’t bite. He wants them, sure. But more than anything, he needs her blood for some ritual.”
“Goddess, I can’t believe she went up against him like that.” His lips quirk into a momentary smile. “She’s crazy.”
“That she is,” I say, but in the face of our current predicament, my answering grin is short-lived. “Is that how they turn the Light Arcana, then? The spell you mentioned?”
“I think so. But I’m guessing they probably need the Arcana objects too. For me, it was the Wand. For you it’ll be the Chalice.”
An icy chill rolls through me as I recall the feel of the Chalice of Blood and Sorrow the night Stevie and I recovered from the dream realm—the skull of the First Fool. “Guess that explains why I’m still intact. The Chalice is buried under rock and magick, just like the Pentacle and Sword.”
“For now.” Ani sighs. “Cass, it’s not safe here for you. They’ll be back. You need to be gone by the time that happens.”
“I don’t suppose we can just walk out the door?”
“There is no door. Not that I’ve seen. You need to find another way.”
I take a deep breath and haul myself to a standing position. The pain comes swiftly, nearly driving me to my knees, but I force myself to remain upright. Imustfind a way out of here—for both of us.
“So the other Light Arcana,” I say, still trying to piece together a more complete picture. “Judgment, Chariot—before they went dark. Are their souls trapped here as well?”
“If they are, they haven’t made contact.” He appears to lean back against the cave wall, shivering when his shoulder blades make contact. “Likely they were cast out years ago. Decades, even. Honestly… the fact that I’m here at all feels like an anomaly. Judgment and Sun haven’t acknowledged my presence once—not even to taunt me, which tells me they don’t know I’m… lingering.” He holds his hand before his face, and again his image flickers. “I don’t know how much time I have left, especially now that the Dark Arcana are gathering so much strength. I—”
“We’ll figure this out, Ani. We always figure it out.”
He nods, but I can tell that his heart—wherever it now lies—isn’t in it.
