Tegan took two giant steps and crouched to flick the mana bearing. “That’s not a rune and it’s not a mana stone. That, the thing orbiting you, is a mana stone. The thing you’re holding, trying to bind, that is also a mana stone. Mana stones are not eight inches wide. Mana stones are not twenty fucking pounds. What did you put in it?”

  “Metal. It came from the foundry.”

  Anissa hadn’t spoken at all. When she did, her voice was quiet. “Is this some sort of cult thing? Like ‘We are all children of the round, metal earth?’”

  “Do it again,” Tegan said. “Please. I said please, did you notice that? Please.”

  It took only a mental nudge. But this time, he forced his will into it, driving it to obey. The bearing rose three inches, unstead, and wavered as it rotated, swinging past Declan, behind him, and bouncing twice before completing an orbit. This time, he was already channeling mana downward. “See? Mana bearing.”

  “How do you not have access to your arcsoul?” Anissa asked. “I know you don’t. I mean, you’ve got mana weight, and now I think I may have the slighest clue why, but what is wrong with you?”

  Declan had dreaded this conversation. “I was told I have a defective arcsoul. No soul rune, and my blood-stone won’t work for me because of that. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I know it’s weird. I know I can’t use runes the way I should but I want this. It’s no weirder than Tegan, the meat-grinder that walks on two legs, wanting to heal. Just don’t tell anyone. Please.”

  “What do you think I would say?” Tegan asked. “You already know my secret. Anissa’s another problem entirely.”

  Anissa shook her head. “Healer’s oath, I can’t disclose anything I learn while treating a patient. This is all kinds of fucked up. You just about inverted the mana flow with that and it wasn’t even orbiting right. Wait…you’re the one who soul-cast Gather on the scab and set off the vortex. That’s why you soul-cast. Defective arcsoul, so you cast without it. Holy shit, that’s either scary or cool.”

  “I’d be fine with just normal. What do you need, Anissa? I’ve been running ragged for two days and not trying to avoid you. I just though it was Tegan looking for me.”

  “And you’d avoid me?” She asked, taking entirely the wrong tone. “Me, who can open your door?”

  Ash and shit. “I’ll fix that momentarily. Can we please focus on Anissa? What can I do for you?”

  “I don’t know. Tegan said you could help. Make my runes more powerful. Give me a way to keep my arrow alive. We’re meeting a swarm tomorrow for the first time, not coming after it, we’ll be there when it spawns. And I have no idea how I’m supposed to out heal a swarm four times the size of the one you saw at the Foundry.

  “My healing keeps me sane, but her healing keeps us alive,” Tegan said. “I needed a healing rune so I don’t sink into the same darkness that ate my parents. She needs it for better reasons.”

  He looked to Anissa. “You know she has Healing Bloom?”

  “What Medical did wasn’t right. Tegan did the training. She passed the trials. She deserves it. But Healing Bloom only does so much, it’s gradual. I need you to empower Healing or Healing Aura. Those are the two I have. Whatever it takes.” Now Anissa showed determination.

  If only Insight worked that way. “What if I can’t? What if I could mutate Healing Aura into, say, Healing Breath?”

  That had her set back, lost in thought. “That’s…I don’t know if I can make that trade. Healing Aura gives me constant over a range that covers the whole arrow. But Healing Breath has so many ways to use it. Bloom just gradually heals. Breath can fix punctured lungs, cure poisons, even rejuvenate. And that’s before we get to the battle buffs. It’s not one and done, you apply it before hand and it lasts just a bit into the fight.” Anissa was almost pleading. “Neither of them are mine. I’ll have to explain why it changed and how. But I can lie if it keeps my arrow alive. Name a combat rune, we can get it for you. Just help me help them.”

  The problem with the rune offer was that both were quite clearly tier four arcanists, possibly on the edge of tier five. Any rune they requisitioned would be too high a level for Declan to use. “You can requisition anything. So requisition a Healing Breath.”

  “You think they’re given? No, every other rune, we can get. Janus completed his service in the spring. His were are all tier six. But ask for a higher tier Healing. Ask for more than one. Too many healers, too much power, and the crown gets nervous,” Anissa said. “Because if we can heal anything, we won’t be weak. Change it. I’ll take the risk. I’m not going to get it done with Healing Aura.”

  Each mana stone orbit reduced the aches in his limbs. Declan went to the lock box and unlocked it, removing Healing Breath.

  “How did you get one?” Anissa asked. “I shouldn’t ask. I shouldn’t. I just—people kill healers for the runes. There’s a reason House Rush has a healer core. They’re hard to kill.”

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  “You really think Declan could pull that off?” Tegan asked, incredulous. “Remember when Alister was screaming for him to run, or he’d throw Declan? Yeah. Hydrion head had that rune.”

  Now Anissa looked between them in confusion. “You got this from a signature monster? Did either of you try and cast it? Signature monster runes always have secondary effects. Always. They’re not always apparent but it’s an absolute. Absolute.”

  There was a simple principle Declan had been raised with, and that was you didn’t take advantage of desperate people. “I’ll let you try it. But I want an answer and it had damn well better be one I believe.”

  Anissa removed a rune from orbit and focused a moment on Healing Breath. Then it sailed gently around her, blazing brighter by the moment. She pursed her lips and gently breathed out. It wasn’t so much a mist as a green vapor that dispersed slowly. Where it touched Declan, his neck stopped aching.

  “Gods, that eats mana,” Anissa said. She looked straight at Declan. “The bonus effect is weird. It’s a stimulant. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad yet and it adds so much to the mana cost, I need to figure out how to cast without it. Ask your question. I won’t lie.”

  “The only reason someone would be afraid an ArCore member would go rogue is if it happened before. Has it?”

  She nodded after a moment. “Talk to your advisor. He’s the one who had to deal with it. He was the only one who could. A tier nine healing rune, corrupted…it spread corruption like a disease. There have been other defilers. But only one that was a healer, and they never—ever—want to risk it again. High level healers are tracked in the houses. In the ArCore they’re controlled.”

  “I planned to ask Tegan this but I suspect you’d know the answer. Check this out.” Declan took the shards in his lockbox and headed to the workshop. In the center of the floor was a round circle, seals upon seals of runes circling it, and he put his hand on the stone. The runes slowly lit and circled, then locked, blazing brighter. The stone floor in the two foot circle disappeared, revealing the contents of the safe.

  It wasn’t that impressive.

  A leather notebook, a pair of silver hooks the size of a man’s fist, and a rune-stone Declan immediately sensed wasn’t high-tier. He took it out and turned it over. “It’s a modifer rune. Feels weird, but I think a life modifier. Like fire, wind, earth, ice, there’s more of these than I can count. Let me guess, life is powerful, hoarded, hidden?” Declan looked to the two healers.

  “It’s rare, sure, but it doesn’t work the way you’re suggesting.” Anissa sounded more confident. “You have to guide all runes for Healing. You have to have absolute knowledge of what you need it to do and most importantly, what not to do.”

  “I’ve read case studies about people enchanting life attributes into their armor. Growing tumors every time they got hit, dying because their heart didn’t fit in their chest,” Tegan said. “There’ a reason that was left there. Not going to be fought over.”

  “Good.” Declan flipped through the notes, then tossed it back in the vault and sealed it. “I don’t know what I want from you yet but I know you’re going to hate it. Can you harden mana channels?”

  “No, Tegan’s the only one who’s learning to fix channel—you didn’t!” She spun to look at Tegan. “You said you went back to fu—”

  “Fuck up his mana channels. That’s what I said. That’s what I did. It’s what they did to me and look how awesome I turned out. He was already wrecked, might as well get the best out of it.”

  Anissa looked like she was about to say something else, but bit her tongue. “If your arcsoul is defective, hardening the channels has no purpose except bleeding rin. Mine was done with ghilla venom, best days of my life. You should go for absorption seeding. The Huto sew fibers spun from arcite into your muscles. The mana’s low there, and they don’t permit runes. Against their religion. I have a contact, but you’ll want to get tested. If they’re only able to double your absorption, there’s not much point. I’ll put you in contact when he visits.”

  Declan no longer admired the ArCore. They were raised to be rapid response soldiers, given power and yet held on short leashes. He wouldn’t accept an invitation to the ArCore if they offered. Skinner had infected him with a desire to be more. To be stronger. And that couldn’t be done following a prescribed course. “I’m going to come up with something. Something huge, I just don’t know what yet. When I do? I expect your help.”

  Anissa nodded. “I have five oath-stones, I understand debts. I’ll do it, whatever it is. Unless we all die tomorrow, in that case, I have bad news for both of us.”

  “Don’t die.” Declan meant in both the good and bad way. “Tegan, Insight is powerful but it’s not a direct combat rune and I can’t empower people’s runes. I can’t even tell you there was more to that Healing Breath rune. I really didn’t think there was. There’s no room for ‘more,’ the strokes already being pushed to maximum effects.”

  And yet, he didn’t think Anissa lied. There was more to runes, something buried just under the surface. He meant to find out. “If either of you know of where someone like me, with my resources, could get a rune forging station, I want to hear. I want to know. I want it. I’m also looking for a focus trainer to help me bind a third stone.”

  “I knew rune boosting sounded too good to be true. We have two more healers in ArCore. That would have helped. When you’re ready, I’ll make sure I am. Tegan, I can’t turn you in to Medical. Instead, you’re going to explain to me why you thought changing his channels was a good idea. Come on. I have a few hours before we glint off to meet the surge.” Anissa strong armed her fellow ArCore and dragged her from Declan’s apartment. House sense they were gone a few minutes later.

  Declan would stew on it later. Right now, he had a rune to test, research to do, and an important message to send to House Taylor, a theory. A plan. First, he ate breakfast. Second, he checked to make sure house chores were happening, setting the mana locks to surprise a few slackers.

  He sensed the messenger before he saw them, a young man in a bright yellow cloak. All of them were seventeen, all serving their Academy obligation in the only way they were fit to and hoping to be attacked on a run. The man looked tired from his run, but he handed Declan a note.

  Shi Sanswa would like to retain your services to analyze six runes, terms to be negotiated.

  House Sanswa managed the artificer city, it was where the greatest arcane mechanics went regardless of their source. There were many, many house ‘wars’ that never spilled blood, but Sanswa had avoided most of them by being integral to all. “Tell them I’d like that,” Declan answered. “Wait. What I mean is, ‘Declan Ariloch is open to negotiations and wishes Shi Sanswa the Queen’s radiant guidance.’” Etiquette. Stupid. Forever. It was time to find the intersection between history, power, and knowledge.