Regina had never teleported before, and the experience was profoundly disorienting. It didn’t even come from the teleportation itself, which on its own would probably only be mildly disorienting — suddenly being somewhere else, the sounds and smells and ambient mana very different. But she was a Hive Queen, intricately linked to her hive via its psychic link, and Leian took her out of her normal range, beyond where she could reach almost all of her hive.

  Once the world around her resolved into real sights and sounds again, Regina staggered to her knees, heaving and barely keeping from throwing up. Her heart felt like it had suddenly been pulled halfway out of her chest and frozen, except it wasn’t really her heart and there was actually an empty space in her head instead except that wasn’t it either and now there were a few bright lights around her radiating confusion and alarm and however far she reached found nothing but the normal background of minds.

  It took a moment for her brain to resolve the sounds swelling around her into audible words.

  “Mother?!” That was Tim. “What — How did you — Are you alright?”

  “Is that …”

  “Regina? Just take a deep breath,” Galatea said soothingly.

  “I’m okay,” Regina coughed out, climbing to her feet and blinking once against the change in ambient lighting. She ignored the emptiness in her head and focused on her surroundings, taking them in at a glance.

  They hadn’t appeared directly in whatever place Leian was so concerned about, but stood in a corridor hewn out of stone and partly clad in metal. Tim and a few other familiar faces stared at her and Galatea. Ina and the others had clearly been left behind, along with everything else in the temple.

  Leian had apparently taken a few steps, but paused now, and she was looking at Regina with what seemed to be concern.

  “You could have warned us,” Regina said through gritted teeth. “Or, you know, asked. This is going to be hell to deal with, me suddenly disappearing.”

  Leian tilted her head slightly, not quite lowering it. “Don’t worry, I will put you back before they panic too much. I apologize for the disruption … but I felt this was necessary.”

  By this point, the immediate shock of their arrival seemed to have passed and the others realized there was a goddess standing right there. None of them seemed quite sure how to react, although the anxiety was evident to her.

  Regina glanced at Tim and those standing right beside him, currently Owin and Anuis. “Clear the corridor,” she told them. “No one but hive drones and you two should remain here.”

  Having a clear order to follow seemed to snap them out of the uncertainty, and they turned to snap at the soldiers starting to crowd in to see what happened. Regina felt the profound relief swelling up in Tim, which he suppressed as he focused on the immediate situation. She couldn’t resist reaching out a little and brushing against his mind, sending him a wave of love and assurance. His answer was still slightly frantic, but more restrained.

  “What have you found already?” Galatea asked, sending a tentative glance at Leian.

  “I went down to see a large cave with some sort of crystalline material on the walls, but it was otherwise largely empty,” Owin reported. “Tim had me return after a brief visit to be checked out.”

  Leian’s expression visibly darkened. “I will see for myself,” she said, “come if you like.”

  The next moment, the shaft the others had dug expanded as if by itself and grew a small winding staircase cut into the sides, and Leian disappeared, but her presence immediately reappeared further down. Regina glanced at Galatea before she hurried to the staircase and started climbing down. Whatever this was, she had the feeling leaving Leian alone was not the best move.

  Regina had felt the difference since they’d arrived, but naturally, it had been overshadowed by the shock of losing the connection to her hive. Now that she was focused on it, she picked up a few more details, and a part of her really didn’t like the idea of getting closer. She pushed past that, knowing it was irrational, but an interesting data point nonetheless. She’d never sensed an area without mana since she’d first become aware of it, possibly as far back as she could remember, and it was interesting to feel it now. Or not feel it, as the case may be. But she focused on Leian’s presence instead and hurried. Galatea followed her, a bit more slowly, while the others hesitated.

  Down at the end of the new staircase, the cut out ledges vanished into rock and she dropped the last two meters or so. They’d apparently opened into something of an antechamber rather than the real chamber itself — the really important part of the structure seemed to only be an inner section of the hollow that had been dug out here, but the rest of it was still covered by the phenomenon. As she took a few steps forward, she realized that the crystalline material Owin had mentioned lined the walls of this inner chamber, although ‘room’ or ‘hall’ would be a more appropriate descriptor given the size.

  And crystalline wasn’t a wrong word, either, but it felt insufficient for the material she saw. It was a gray verging on silver but almost transparent, without truly letting any light through. Its structure looked like nothing she’d seen before. Parts of it were smooth, others pockmarked or fluted and corrugated in geometric patterns she couldn’t make sense of, although there might be some logic behind it. They caused the light in the room, coming from a hovering ball Leian had clearly put up, to behave oddly, throwing shadows and clear spaces that felt disjointed and making the edges of the room look unsteady. Beyond the walls, there were two low counters of shelves made of some black, unreflective material.

  A low sound brought Regina’s attention back to Leian, who’d come to stand closer to the middle of the room, seemingly unconcerned with the local mana or lack thereof. Regina took a hesitant step forward, then paused, the hair on the back of her neck prickling. She couldn’t see the goddess’ face from here, but her posture screamed coiled tension.

  “Those traitorous liars!” Leian whirled around.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Regina’s feet took a step back before she even realized it. The fury on Leian’s face felt like it almost reached out and could burn her if she made a wrong move. She’d never seen her like that. It was like the other woman was seeing through her, not registering her presence, and still glaring at her with the weight of all her sins stripped bare.

  “Leian?” Galatea called softly. She’d stopped outside the room proper, hovering a few centimeters above the ground under the shaft they’d come through. Regina could sense her discomfort with the location, a visceral urge to turn away, and realized she simply refused to come any closer.

  “They assured us they didn’t have it! Said they would never steal our secrets! I was there, Galatea, I was part of the delegation we sent … One of the Aishans’ lowest points, the Hivekind pretended to be sympathetic but regretfully, they couldn’t help.” She followed up by spitting a word in another language which Regina didn’t need the translation to know was a curse.

  She swallowed and edged a little further away. For the first time, even with this reminder of Leian’s presumably mortal origins, she really got what it meant to see a deity, and fear their wrath.

  “Are you sure they were lying?” Galatea asked in a reasonable tone, raising a hand slowly in a reassuring gesture. “Presumably you only dealt with one Hive, or a few? They might not have even been connected to those who ultimately sent people here. And this was years before, they might have gathered or found this knowledge in the intervening time.”

  Leian’s eyes had shifted to Galatea, and she took a deep breath she presumably didn’t actually need. “You are right, my friend,” she finally acknowledged. “I cannot know for sure what truly happened or who might have lied. Not right now.”

  Regina carefully edged a little closer, resisting the urge to cross her arms or affect a defensive posture. In the back of her mind, she was very aware that this could be an issue, to put it mildly. She’d relied on Leian’s goodwill so far, she had to admit that. Whether because of her previous experiences, out of guilt over the death of the Hivekind or the Cataclysm, or a sense of kinship with Regina, Leian had helped her. If her feelings toward the Hivekind soured and she considered Regina guilty by association, she didn’t know what she’d do.

  Luckily, it seemed Leian was a bit more reasonable than that.

  “I take it this is about this material? The knowledge of how to make it?” she guessed, speaking softly.

  Leian’s eyes flickered to her and she nodded curtly after a moment. “Yes. The knowledge of how to make it, indeed. It was a closely guarded secret of my people. The requirements are not simple, but it’s the knowledge that was the truly important factor.” She paused for a moment. “We lost the ability to make it, as our civilization fell to ruins.”

  Regina didn’t ask if Leian knew this secret. She knew better than that.

  “What is it?” Galatea asked.

  The goddess turned to eye the crystal walls again, stepping up to brush her hand against one. She seemed entirely unaffected by the anti-mana effect that permeated the space. The casual unconcern was a bit scary.

  “It went by several names. The High Aishan one, translated into your language, would be ‘Flame of Ruins’. Overly poetic, but not entirely inappropriate. Some of our most powerful weapons were forged of it. It used to be a crucial ingredient in forging gates between worlds, though not irreplaceable. It can also destroy them. Or almost anything else, if properly applied. A proper weapon made of it could kill essentially any entity in this world, in theory.”

  Regina swallowed. It did sound impressive, and presumably explained why it was this deeply hidden and why people wanted it. Still, if it was everything Leian said, this reaction almost seemed too subdued. “Our enemies could use it to make weapons that would kill anyone?”

  Leian huffed dismissively. “In theory. In practice, no one from this world — or Haven — is anywhere remotely close to being able to properly work it.”

  Regina nodded. “Well, that’s reassuring,” she said softly. And disappointing. Of course, the ability to make a weapon that could work against anyone, even gods, seemed tempting, even if it was probably a double-edged sword. On the whole, it was probably better if no one could use it, at least like that.

  “Is this all there is of it?” Galatea asked, frowning.

  Leian glanced at the walls again and shrugged. “It does seem unimaginative of the Hivekind to have used it only for hiding a room, so perhaps not. I will look for other pieces, though given the material’s nature, that may take some time even for me. I doubt it is truly something you need to concern yourselves with, however. Nothing has surfaced yet, and this place was forgotten for a long time.”

  “I hope so,” Regina muttered. She took a deep breath, then bowed her head to Leian. “I appreciate the explanations, and your patience.”

  Leian’s expression had lost some of its animation again, her emotions less visible behind a cool, unaffected facade. Regina still lingered on the edges of the room, close to the exit that let a bit of slightly-fresher air in. The lighting and shadows illuminated her face strangely.

  “Naturally,” Leian said, then started slowly walking closer to her. “I will leave this place in your care, Regina. Be careful. Some people may think they could use it and aim to acquire it. My fellow gods should know better, although I imagine they won’t be pleased to learn of it, either, if they haven’t already.”

  Regina nodded. She was glad Leian was at least willing to leave this base under her control, even if it was a headache with concerning implications.

  “I will give you what aid may be necessary should it be truly threatened, within reason,” Leian assured her.

  “I appreciate that, too.”

  Galatea cleared her throat. “Now that that is settled — where have you been?”

  Leian smiled faintly, walking past Regina to face her old friend. “I’m sure you have guessed already. I was beyond where you could have reached me. For once. It has been far too long, even if I had to drain a large part of my accumulated power.”

  “You were gone for a while.”

  “Time passes quickly here, as I’ve also told you.”

  Regina blinked, but those details were pretty clear. “Wait, you were —“

  “Off-world? Yes.”

  “Don’t vanish right now,” Galatea warned her. “We can speak freely here, can’t we?”

  “Yes, but I don’t think it is conducive to either of your health to stay here for long,” Leian said. “Come on.”

  They went back up the stairs Leian had created, leaving the strange mana-void chamber behind, but Leian paused halfway up before they reached the corridor.

  “You should guard access very carefully,” she advised Regina. “And make sure those who saw us come in don’t talk about what they’ve seen. Your psychic abilities should be more than enough for that task.”

  Regina frowned. “I don’t like the idea of taking their memories. Especially if it’s against their will.”

  “You can just blur it out, make them aware of everything else but leave key details vague,” Leian shrugged. “And ask for their agreement. Besides, these are all members of your armed forces. Simply put a gag order on the information. If they don’t agree to any psychic influence, you can still transfer and demote them, though.”

  She nodded, suppressing a sigh. That would be kind of interesting, but probably unpleasant. “I didn’t think of that, thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it. Also …” Leian sighed. “I believe we should talk. It’s past time. I owe you a few explanations.”

  That sent a flutter of nerves through Regina’s stomach, but she nodded in agreement. The chance to talk to Leian wasn’t something she’d pass up.

  “Back to the temple?” Galatea asked.

  Leian tilted her head slightly. “Would you mind going going back up and reassuring Regina’s followers that everything is fine, Galatea? I’ll take her to a secure place and we’ll be back soon.”

  Galatea crossed her arms and stared at them for a few moments, but Leian held her gaze. Eventually, she gave in to the unspoken request to let them talk privately and nodded, turning back to the stairs.

  Leian held out her hand to Regina. “Shall we?”

  Swallowing any urge to hesitate, Regina took her hand and braced for the sensation of teleportation again. This time she at least wasn’t ripped out of most of her hive’s psychic network.