The Anti-Magic Veil
Ardyn and Atina both watched the darkness before them. It was not shadow or night; it was "anti"—an opposite of all they knew and understood.
Atina watched the shadows move in ways she had never seen before. They had a stutter about them and seemed incapable of flow. She called them to her and they did not respond. They pulled against her as if they knew her but weren't really sure how. She called them to order and they stilled for two breaths before they resumed their stuttering movements.
Ardyn watched it all. For her, this "anti-zone" was a place off-limits. She could feel the ambient magic around her begin gently pulling from her—sucked into the blackness before her, never to be seen or felt again. Atina called the shadows to order again and pushed them to the side. For the first time since they had arrived, Ardyn and Atina saw the entrance before them.
It was a large open maw of an entrance, with long black strings of dense shadow moving up and down. On these black shadow strings were sparkling beads of black anti-magic. They felt the repulsion of the beads even as the anti-magic pulled greedily at the ambient magic flowing calmly around them. Ardyn's battle robes flared and adjusted; the tiny crystals they formed began flying into the beads. Each crystal shattered into magical dust as it hit the black beads.
She looked to Atina. "Can your shadow magic get us through this?"
Atina shook her head as she watched the black beads continually suck magic into them like they were bottomless pits. "No, Mistress. These shadows do not obey me fully. I have released a little of my shadows into this void and they forget me and join the shadows of the void."
Ardyn nodded as if she completely understood and it all made perfectly good sense. "Let me borrow a bit of your shadow and let's see what we can do."
"Of course, Mistress."
Shadow spiraled off of Atina in thick circular waves. She stood a bit closer to Ardyn to allow her shadows to slip over to her mistress as she called. Ardyn began to sing. It moved from her soul sea and out into the world. The black beads vibrated in response.
[Song of Tree], [Song of Nature], and [Song of Sight] each began drawing in strands of shadow. The song magics and the shadow layered, then began to braid together. The braid of magic moved to the beaded strands of shadow that barred the entrance. At first, nothing happened and Ardyn quieted her song, hoping to slip through. Just as the magics slid between the beaded strands of shadow, something happened.
The beads of anti-magic pulsed, grew, then began attaching themselves to the braid. Ardyn fought for a moment but then broke off the song and watched both her and Atina's magics be devoured by the black beads. She pursed her lips as her [Song of Calm] and her [Song of Nature] replenished both her and Atina.
"You take the lead, big sister, and I will back you up."
Atina nodded. Her black scales glowed as her shadow magic began to flow through her. Runes lit up in the air around her and shadow spread forth. Atina's magic moved below the brick road, sliding along the road's shadow toward the curtained entryway. Ardyn's [Song of War] and [Song of Wrath] were quiet whispers laced to the underside of Atina's shadow. As shadow was lost, War and Wrath bided time for Atina to rebuild her magic.
The spell moved forward quickly, the brick road seemingly hiding them on purpose. Ardyn quieted her song a bit more. It was a faint echo that almost silently backed up the shadow. The spell entered the curtain and spun through a deep chasm of inky blackness. Atina strained to maintain control over her shadow. Ardyn surrounded her with calm and nature songs, but it was too late. Atina had been drained of much of her magic. She fell to her knees, her black scales now pale grey. Ardyn surrounded her in [Song of Protection] as she moved to her.
"Cut off the magic, Big Sister. It is draining you."
"Just a little more. The more we see, the more we understand."
Ardyn breathed deeply and injected a small thread of [Song of Sight] into Atina's shadow. War and Wrath maintained the shadow strand while Sight showed them what was there. The shadow viper began to fade in Ardyn's arms and Ardyn cut her free of the pull of her own magic. The curtain of shadow and anti-magic pulsed, then waved like a small breeze had passed over it.
Ardyn's body lit up, a beacon of lilac in a dark night, and her talisman and her rainbow gem both worked to refill Atina.
"Mistress. We have to use equal parts of shadow and sight." Her voice was low and hoarse.
Ardyn pursed her lips and shook her head. "No. Those anti-magic beads seem to be able to tell when we are there. We need to move faster. I think we need to use your shadow walk and my battle robes. Rest. We will plan it once you have regained yourself."
Ardyn looked up at the curtain. She had seen a lot. She now knew that this was the entrance to Noir—The Divine Cleanser—the most dangerous place in Sidus Serpens. The last part of the Life Way may prove to be the most treacherous to obtain.