#fatebinder lilith

Bleden Mark was an archon of immense power and skill, and he resented being assigned to babysitting duty. Tunon didn’t call it that, of course. He referred to it as ‘evaluating the potential of promising trainees to select those who would best serve the glory of Kyros’. He’d always been fond of stating things in the most dramatic fashion possible.

Whatever the wording of the task was, it required Bleden Mark to spend his time- which, he reminded Tunon, was incredibly valuable- watching over the children that Tunon called soldiers and deciding who would be advanced to higher positions above the completion of their training, and who would serve as cannon fodder. If he was luck, he might even unearth a few traitors in the ranks; that would at least be good for a little entertainment.

Unfortunately, the newest batch of candidates was devastatingly boring. Even Tunon’s newest favorite, a pet mage who he’d singled out as showing high potential, was a disappointment. Perhaps Mark shouldn’t have expected much to begin with; Tunon had always favored obedience over creativity.

Oh, his new star pupil was talented enough. Powerful, even. She’d make a perfect little war mage, and she’d serve Kyros well.

But she was predictable. That much was obvious from the beginning, when Bleden Mark watched her sparring sessions with the other mages from the shadows. The girl threw arcs of crackling lightning at her opponents with a flawless, textbook technique that allowed Mark to mentally calculate her every move and stance ten seconds before it happened. In fact, he was able to pinpoint the exact moment she left herself open to attack- and so was her opponent, who took advantage of the opportunity to release a wall of flames in her direction.

The opponent was no exemplary mage either, and the girl recovered- although not without a few burns and a singed robe. But even as she narrowly snatched up her victory, Bleden Mark couldn’t muster up any genuine admiration. He could certainly see why Tunon liked this girl, but it took more than flashy magic and raw force to impress him; he appreciated cunning, and it didn’t appear that this girl had much of that to offer.

Or at least, that’s what he thought until he caught her in the act of stealing scrolls from the restricted section of the mage’s library.

 Lilith did not steal. She intended merely to borrow.

And what was the difference, so long as Tunon never knew? This section of the library was so rarely used, anyway. At least someone would be getting some good out of it for once.

“Whatcha got there, kid?”

Lilith whipped around, fingers still locked tight around the scroll in her hands. The first thing that struck her about the man in front of her was the crimson red of his face paint, the only flash of color standing out from his otherwise dark figure. Then she noticed the way he didn’t quite seem to be all there, the way shadows clung to his silhouette and caused him to flicker in and out of clarity. That was when she realized who was standing before her: the Archon of Shadows.

Bleden Mark raised an eyebrow, and when Lilith didn’t immediately answer- it was strange, she usually had no shortage of retorts, but at this moment her voice seemed to be caught in her throat- he grabbed the scroll from her hands. The movement was so quick that Lilith barely had time to realize what was happened before he was once again on the other side of the room, studying the scroll’s contents.

“A spell like this is a bit above your station, isn’t it?” he mused, and Lilith’s hands tightened into fists at her sides, fingernails digging into her palms.

The barb did, at least, finally help her locate her voice. Lifting her chin high, she replied, “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

The Archon studied her for a moment, then snorted dismissively. “Oh, I’m sure you can, kid. And I’m sure your teachers would agree and are completely aware of your intent to learn it.”

Panic shot through Lilith’s veins, but she did her best to keep her voice steady. “They are.”

“Don’t lie to me, kid.” The Archon’s teasing smile vanished. “Especially not when you’ve been caught in the middle of the night with your hand in the cookie jar.”

“I-” Lilith started to protest, but faltered. He was right about one thing; there was no use denying her intentions. “I was going to put it back.”

The Archon tilted his head, remaining silent for a moment. At last, he said, “Of all potential thieves, Tunon’s favorite little mage wouldn’t have been my first guess. Aren’t you afraid of invoking the Adjudicator’s wrath?”

“He won’t be angry if he doesn’t find out.”

The Archon’s answering laugh was so loud that Lilith jumped, but he didn’t seem worried about being overheard. “That’s a bit more to the letter of the law than the spirit, don’t you think?”

“I…” Lilith faltered, unsure of how to respond. Were this Tunon, it would be easy- just sing the praises of the law and nod along with every compliment paid to Kyros. But Bleden Mark was hardly anything like Tunon.

“Just tell me this, kid,” the Archon continued. “Why risk it for this spell?”

“It’s not about that specific spell,” Lilith said. She chewed her lip nervously and looked down with a sigh. “Not really. I need to be stronger. The instructors won’t teach me more, so I’m going to learn on my own.”

She’d always been leagues ahead of the other mages. Always. Always smarter, more powerful, a natural at arcane warfare. And rightly so; it was her entire life, and had been for as long as she could remember. That life had taught her one very important thing- a person survived by being the best. By learning everything they could and performing it to perfection.

But lately she’d been slipping. Not enough to cause an issue, not yet, but she could feel it coming. The others were catching up to her. Mastery of the paltry magic her instructors taught her was not enough. Storm spells like the one held in that scroll were just that type of power- not the classroom variants, but real wartime spells, the kind that could cause explosions on the battlefield. That was the kind of real power Lilith needed.

She didn’t have the words to express any of these thoughts out loud, but as Bleden Mark held her under his scrutiny she wondered if he just knew. At last, he said, “This won’t make you stronger.” The certainty in his voice stung, but Lilith tried not to show it as he held the scroll out in front of her. “But if you want it so badly, come and take it.”

It was a trap. It was obviously a trap. But dammit, Lilith needed that scroll.

Before she could think about it too long, Lilith summoned a spark of lightning in her hands- even the Archon of Shadows could be paralyzed, couldn’t he?- but before she could test that theory he was gone. Lilith’s sparks crackled uselessly into thin air, and then he was behind her, delivering a kick to her knees that sent her sprawling across the floor.

“Is that the best you got, kid? Flashy lights and a temper that makes you stupid?” He shook his head. “That’s not gonna win you anything.”

He leaned down, holding out a hand as if to help Lilith up, but she’d had enough of his tricks. With a huff she pushed away and hauled herself to her feet, ignoring the aching in her knees and the massive blow to her pride. “If you’re so wise, then what’s your secret?”

He chuckled, dark eyes glinting cruelly from behind the red paint. “I don’t have to be strong when my opponents are weak. Now run along before your teachers come investigate what’s making so much ruckus.”

Rage boiled inside Lilith’s chest, and she could feel the static crackling along her skin, but she forced the storm to remain inside. He was right; she had to be gone from here before anyone found her. “Are you…are you going to tell Tunon?”

“You know, I haven’t decided yet. I like to keep my options open. Let’s see how well you take my advice.” And then he was gone, as if he were never there to begin with, and Lilith was left with nothing to do but return to the mage barracks.

The next three days were spent swinging between fear that Tunon would call her to the Court for punishment and the strange, nagging desire to know just what the Archon had meant by his ‘advice’. Lilith ran over the encounter in her head, remembering his words. I don’t have to be strong when my opponents are weak.

On the third night, she returned to the library to pull an atrophic spell from the records, and this time no shadows came to stop her.

 The little mage didn’t seem to know when to give up.

Bleden Mark watched her next sparring match with no small amount of amusement. He was almost impressed by how swiftly she’d adapted to her new strategy. Almost- she still threw her lightning around with more reckless abandon than was necessary, but the youngsters always had always loved their dramatics. Mark could put that aside and admit that her new trick of weaving shades of atrophy through the air alongside her lightning was something that warranted approval.

By the time her opponent realized what she’d been doing, it was too late. His energy had been sapped away, and he could barely maintain a standing position, let alone an offensive one. He moved to put one last surge of effort into an attack, but before he could form the spell the girl’s staff whistled through the air, connecting with his knees with a loud crack.

Mark waited until the arena had cleared before materializing at her side. “You’re a fast learner.”

She jumped at the sound of his voice, then tried to cover her surprise by crossing her arms and raising her chin defensively. “I know,” she retorted in a tone of forced authority.

Young and stupid, Mark thought. From the perspective of an Archon who’d been around for centuries, that statement was true of just about everyone. Still, it fit this girl more than most- barely fifteen, but proud and brazen and utterly convinced of her own talent. And, unfortunately, not entirely wrong on that last point.

“Interested in learning more?” Mark asked. It wasn’t often that he took on new students; it was even less often that those students made it through the training. Tunon wouldn’t be fond of Mark snatching his favorite pupil away, but as the girl had pointed out already, the Adjudicator didn’t need to know everything.

The girl studied him warily, taking her time to answer even thought they both know what her answer would be. “I don’t trust you,” she said plainly, and Mark chuckled.

“Good. There might be some brains in that head after all.”

The next time Bleden Mark met with Tunon, he concurred with the decision to promote the War Mage Lilith to Fatebinder.

Tunon was pleased. He saw only the girl’s skill and willingness to serve. He didn’t see the ambition that would either get her killed or, one day in the far future, make her a very real threat. Mark didn’t feel the need to enlighten him.