Chapter 15: Elenora: The Song of the Sphere

Vespera wakes me before dawn again. The tower is cold, the air sharp with the scent of crushed herbs and old spells. My body aches from yesterday’s draining. My magic flickers weakly under my skin, like a candle guttering in a draft. However, my magic feels different, a slow change I have noticed during my time in Vespera’s thrall.

“Come,” Vespera says, already turning toward the laboratory. I follow because I must. Because resistance is impossible. Because she owns me. My magic may be changing but I don’t fool myself into believing that I can challenge Vespera’s magical powers.

The sphere sits on its pedestal, glowing faintly, almost too faintly. The magic inside it strains against the glass, pulsing like a heartbeat out of rhythm. I feel it tugging at me, calling to me, begging to return.

Vespera doesn’t notice. She’s oblivious to the song of the sphere. She is humming. Humming. As if today is just another day of extraction. As though she isn’t in danger of tearing open something she cannot control.

“Sit,” she says.

I sit. The chair is cold. The air is colder. The sphere hums softly, eager.

Vespera lifts her stave. Magic gathers at its tip ... pale blue, sharp as frost. It coils in the air, reaching toward me like a serpent. My breath catches. My magic stirs in response, frightened and fierce.