A soldier bustled in. “LT, a messenger from the Commander has arrived. He wishes to speak with you.” The man was so intent on delivering his news, he didn’t noticed that Valek held his boss at sword point until the Lieutenant failed to respond. Then he skidded to a stop and gaped.

This squad is in dire need of more training. “Escort the messenger in here, or I’ll skewer your Lieutenant,” Valek said. When the soldier didn’t move, he increased the pressure on the Lieutenant’s neck.

The Lieutenant hissed at his man to fetch the messenger without delay. Definitely more training.

Valek relaxed and gestured with the sword for the Lieutenant to sit. It didn’t take long for the messenger to arrive.

Suppressing his relief, Valek asked, “Can you please tell this Lieutenant who he has arrested?”

“Can do,” Janco said with a smile. “Lieutenant Darren, let me be the first to congratulate you on capturing the elusive and legendary Kelav. He’s been wanted in Ixia for years on multiple counts of espionage.”

Part 9

The Ice Moon could rid the world of magic? I blinked at Owen Moon sure I had heard wrong.

His superior smirk remained in place. The magician claimed his two times great grandfather invented the Ice Moon, but Owen had no idea what the blanket of power was—the world's soul.

Not many did. I had told the Master Magicians, but we agreed to keep the knowledge to ourselves for now.

I studied the arrogant man sitting next to me. The icy wind keened through the travel shelter's cracks, causing the flames in the hearth to pulse.

"I don't believe you," I said to him. "Nothing can destroy the power blanket. Magicians can mangle it, rip holes, in it, and move it, but not erase it."

Owen eased from the warmth of the fire, leaning back on an elbow. "Have you ever wondered why diamonds can hold magic?"

"No."

"Me either. But my ancestor made it his life's work. In his laboratory near the Soul Mountains, he experimented with a number of different colors, sizes, and cuts of diamonds, measuring the amount of magic each diamond could hold. He discovered that bigger diamonds trap more power." Owen held up a hand, indicating patience. "Yes, it's textbook. What's not well known is that the amount isn't linear. A diamond twice as big as another doesn't hold twice as much power, but four times as much. The quantity of magic stored increases exponentially."

"Interesting. However the power blanket covers the entire world. In order for one diamond to absorb that much energy it would—"

"Need to weigh approximately 1666 carats," Owen said. "Roughly the size of the biggest blue diamond ever found. Otherwise known as the Ice Moon."

I considered. "Even if it is big enough, a magician still has to draw the magic. No one is strong enough to pull it all."

"And therein lies the beauty of the Ice Moon. My great-great-grandfather cut the stone. Ellis aligned the facets in such a way that all a magician has to do is start filling the diamond. After that, the Ice Moon does the rest of the work until there is no more power left. As I said before, he was a genius."

Insane, would be my preferred word choice. "But you said there was no danger if they had used the Ice Moon. Ridding the world of magic would be considered a catastrophe."

"In the hands of a weaker magician, yes. But Ellis could have stopped the power drain once Stefton had been neutralized."

Sounded a bit dodgy to me. "What would have happened to the charged Ice Moon? That's a ton of magic accessible in one place."

"The Master Magicians would have shared it, of course." Owen acted as if my question offended him.

I pressed on anyway. "If this is all true, then keeping the Ice Moon in Ixia would be the safest action."

"Until the Commander touches it, triggering the draw."

"But the Commander doesn't..." Except the Commander did have magical powers. Well, sort of.

It was complicated. And how did Owen know?

Owen smirked. "Care to try that again?"

I suppressed the urge to wipe that smirk off his face by grabbing his soul. But he held both my brother and Valek's lives in his hands. Every day, he showed me them locked in cells guarded by his men. Every day, my heart twisted with worry and the chance of outsmarting Owen grew dimmer.

"How do you know about the Commander?" I asked.

"I had the pleasure of meeting him when he visited after the Daviian mess. One handshake with him revealed the depth of his souls."

His audacity had no limit. "You not only broke protocol, but also the ethical code and plain moral decency by reading his thoughts with your magic!"