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I hold up a hand, stopping him from saying more. "What doyou mean their magic is dirty?"
"It's not magic bestowed by the Gods or of the Gods. It's stolen."
Gesturing towards the table, I sink into a seat and watch as he does the same. I drum my fingers on the table as I think. "Stolen? Everything I know says that when you were banished, the magic entered humans and created the fae."
"Yes, when our high priests released us from this realm, all of the devotion for us that existed was spread out among the humans. But they were never supposed to keep the magic!" He bangs his hand on the table. "Our priests knew this! They were supposed to do the rituals immediately so we could remove our magic from the humans who received it. Instead, they decided to keep it for themselves."
"None of their journals mentioned this," I say under my breath. "Do you really think that's why they didn't bring you back?"
"Unequivocally. Magic is power, and power corrupts. I don't think they ever intended to bring us back." His face falls, and he runs his hands through his hair, leaving it messy and awkwardly placed on his head. "Their magic is stolen, Viola," he says again. "It is running out because the devotion for us is all but gone. No one worships us anymore, which means no devotion can be pulled from the realm to power fae magic."
"Okay, well, then all we need to do is get the people worshipping all of the Gods again, and that should bolster magic and fix the problems we've been having."
He looks at mecuriously, eyebrows wrinkled, but the expression slacks, and his eyes soften quickly. "Theoretically, that should fix the problem, yes."
At least I have confirmation that all that we have been doing is not for naught.
"But," he says, and my spine stiffens. "If the fae pull their magic from the devotion meant for the Gods, we will be unable to utilize that devotion ourselves. If we use all of the devotion, no magic will be left for the fae."
His words hang heavily in the air between us, and I find myself tapping my fingers on my thigh as I roll his words around in my head. "I want to make sure I'm understanding," I begin slowly. "The devotion that powers the fae's powers is the same as the devotion that powers my own, and as I use mine it takes away their ability to use magic?"
"That's a very simplistic way to look at it, Viola." He leans back in the chair, crossing his ankle over his knee and steepling his fingers together. "I'm sure you noticed that magic was stronger when you released the seeds of magic from their artifacts, right?" He doesn't wait for me to provide confirmation. "You began to receive the devotion meant for that God as soon as it became a part of you. When you received my fragment, all of the belief and worship towards me was able to become true devotion again with you as the recipient. That allowed more ambient magic to be utilized by the fae."
"As long as we don't use all of the devotion then the fae should have no problem with their magic, then, right?"
"This is all theoretical, Viola. Obviously, there were no fae in my time. This is my best guess from what I've seen over the centuries observing the realm. But yes, as long as there is ambient devotion magic, the fae should be able to continue with their little spells."
Avidor sighs heavily, his face growing weary and his shoulders slumping forward. This conversation felt so honest and straightforward, not at all what I expected after dealing with the cold, calculated madness that is Himureal.
"Let's not talk about that anymore. I am just so relieved to be here, to be able to speak to others." He looks directly at me, his eyes twin ambers, and I find myself trapped in his gaze. I take several steps towards him, closing most of the distance that separates us. He grabs my hands in his own. "And I would be remiss if I didn't express just how sorry I am for coming on so strong, Viola. I feel a pull towards you that is undeniable, but I never should have been so forward."
"I appreciate you taking the time to come here and apologize. But I am with Mace, and you need to be aware of that." My words are clipped as I drop his hands, hoping he gets the message clearly that I will not be entertaining his advances even though I want nothing more than to learn from him.
"Understood, Shadowweaver. Just remember, Gods live forever. Fae do not." He pushes to his feet and slinks out the home, his words sending my brain into a tailspin.
Chapter 30
Mace
"Harder," Viola says through heavy breaths.
"I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't. I've got a lot of practice with this," she replies, wiping sweat from her forehead.
With a sigh, I swing my fist, connecting with her open palm again. "Keep your thumb tucked," she says, grabbing my hand and showing me how to position it properly. "It's not worth throwing a punch if you're going to mess up your hands." She moves away from me as I practice holding my form and punching the empty air, repeating the process with Plume.
Viola decided we rely too much on our magic when it comes to combat and wants all of us to spend some time in hand-to-hand and weapons training. Jaz, who has similar skills to Viola, has joined on as an instructor, and even some of their crew have decided to participate.
"Alright, great job, everyone," Viola says with a grin. "It's time to spar! What wants to go first?"
Of course, no one takes her up on the offer. Sparring against Viola almost feels like a death wish. "What are the rules?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at my partner. She grins,the warm sun reflecting off her white hair and blinding me almost as much as her smile.
"Blades allowed, superficial cuts only, no pulling punches," she responds, twirling her shadow blade between her fingers. "And no magic, of course." Tossing the blade up in the air, she catches it and tosses it my way, where it embeds in the grass in front of my feet. "Thank you for volunteering, Nightroot."
Of course. Of course asking a question would be seen as volunteering to Viola. I pull the blade from the grass and hand it to her, palming the knife with the green gem in the hilt that Viola bought for me in Dalery. We circle each other, and the others gather in a circle around us.
"Now, I'm not going to go easy on you," Viola says, lazily dragging the flat of her blade across her thigh. "Chances are you may fight someone or something much more skilled than you, and you need to learn how to use their weaknesses against them to help cement your victory."
