"I've never come across a golem like that snake thing before," Baylin said, rifling through Aisling's memories of the night. "I take it your lover is responsible for unleashing it on poor Marvel?"
Aisling didn't take the bait. She slammed her hands on the table, making the animal lying upon it squeak in panic. "What. Do. You. Know?"
"That there's certainly nothing I can do to help him if he's already dead," Baylin said.
Bullshit. Aisling raised a hand, forming athar, and blasted it at one of the tall shelves filled with books Baylin treasured more than any person. The shelf exploded, raining wood splinters and charred pages.
Baylin's eyes narrowed. "Child, think what you are—"
Another row of shelves burst into flame at Aisling's command. She locked eyes with Baylin as the smell of burning paper filled the room.
"I'd advise you to stop while you're still breathing, Apprentice." Though her voice remained level, Baylin's mouth twitched with anger.
Good, thought Aisling. A flick of her wrist sent the stones beneath the shelves shifting. The ground began swallowing up a few shelves with a groan that rent the library's undisturbed air.
Baylin snapped.
Suddenly, Aisling felt her body stretch painfully as large blue hands made of athar grabbed her arms, pulling in opposite directions. She screamed, but it was drowned out by the sound of muscle and bone separating, her entire body coming apart.
"Kill me, why don't you!" she hissed at Baylin. "Just like you killed everyone else! Come on! Do it!"
The hands vanished, and Aisling collapsed, her chest flat against the floor. Her hair tumbled into her face as she snarled, "Tell me what I want to know. Now."
"That," Baylin said, voice tight, "was very unwise." Turning her back on Aisling, she raised her hands, a mighty orb of athar gleaming between her palms. She seemed to crush it, and the room blinked blue for a moment.
Then, before Aisling's eyes, everything righted itself. The shelf she had destroyed returned to normal, wood and paper reassembling into books. The ashes reformed into volumes. Shelves unsunk from the floor.
Everything was restored, as if she had done nothing.
Seeing Baylin's power did nothing to quell Aisling's desperation. It only strengthened it. Baylin could probably do anything—bringing Marvel back shouldn't be too hard.
Pushing herself up, Aisling licked her dry lips. "You need to—"
"I know, I know," Baylin said, her mouth curving wryly. "Bring Marvel Satis back to life for you somehow. Tell you what you believe he'd told me. The problem is that I don't see why I should do anything you want, especially since you tried to destroy my library just now." She shook her head. "Very bad manners."
"You owe me," Aisling said.
Baylin rolled her eyes. "This again."
"You know you do," Aisling insisted. "You owe him too, but you have to help me again because you owe me."
"I don't—"
"Tell that to every single person you made me watch die."
Baylin met Aisling's hard gaze, refusing to falter. "The last time, you assured me you would stop bringing up this tedious nonsense. And yet," she spread her hands— "here we are again."
With great difficulty, Aisling rose to her feet. Her body ached even as it healed itself. Exhaustion sank deep in her muscles. Hope kept her on her feet. She had to keep trying. For Marvel.
But she didn't threaten or bargain. She let her eyes fill with miserable tears, allowing the monstrous woman to peek at the most vulnerable part of her soul.
Baylin could not be moved to pity, but even creatures such as she could feel guilt.
"Baylin, it's Marvel." Aisling's voice cracked on the words. "What am I supposed to do if I lose him? Please."
A look of disgust darkened Baylin's features. The Magus turned away from the pitiful grief Aisling had allowed on her face.
Please, she thought. Please.
"You do know any magic that would bring him back is absolutely forbidden," Baylin said. "The Conclave would destroy us if they found out what we did."
Aisling's knees nearly gave out from relief. "I don't care."
Baylin whipped around, frowning in puzzlement. "You have never been one to break the Laws."
"I don't care about the laws right now, Baylin." Aisling fisted her hands. "I care about Marvel's life not ending because I couldn't save him. I care about him being safe. No more of these tests. How do we get him back?"
A small smile hooked the corner of Baylin's mouth. "I think the more important question is: should we?"
"What do you mean?"
Snorting, Baylin reached into the air, conjuring a scroll and a pen. The table between them cleared, the tools of Baylin's work and the poor creature vanishing out of sight.
Absently, Aisling wondered where Baylin had sent the thing. The thought fled her mind at the sight of Baylin writing on the scroll she spread across the table.
"Pelen." She sucked in a shocked breath. "Is that—"
"My notes about the boy? Yes." Baylin shrugged. "Some of them, at least. He wouldn't tell me what happened to him after he disappeared, or anything even useful, really, but I've managed to put together a list of his symptoms."
Aisling's eyes followed the words in the low, green light. Dread prickled over her skin as she noted the items Baylin had listed.
Store of Fusion magical energy made her stomach turn. Second centre, not built to last long. Body constructed by athar. Will not his own. Powerful. Capable of thought and direction. Arrays not quite functional.
The last item made her stomach drop. Fourth Circle? Fifth Circle? Maybe even higher?
"You can't—" Aisling raised her gaze to Baylin's. "You can't be serious. Or— or you're wrong."
"Ha! Fat chance of that ever happening." Baylin looked amused at Aisling's horror. "Girl, surely you know what sort of creature I've just described in my notes. Surely you understand what will happen to his magical centre if we were to bring him back. Even in your sentiment, would you wish him upon the world? A thinking one that can do magic. The sort that this world has never witnessed. Do you really want to risk the safety of all of Orr—perhaps the world—by bringing him back?"
Aisling opened her mouth to reply that she didn't care, but didn't she? The Academy had it hard enough keeping the world safe. If she brought back Marvel, would she have to destroy him too? Was she honestly sure that she wanted to do this?
For the first time since finding his body in Grimm Boll's yard, she wasn't so sure she was supposed to save him anymore.