Page 13 of Storms of His Wrath

Naya’s mind raced as Oshrun moved to the next scene. The Omega must have used magic the way the Known Land Omegas did, which made sense. With the wild magic confined at that point, this land had once been much like hers. So that meant the new Omega had to be from the Omega Compound, the place the Mothers had sheltered Omegas and secretly taught them magic. During that point in her history, Alphas were still dangerous to Omegas. It would have been expected she would tell the Omegas here to fear Alphas. That sounded exactly like something a Mother or Omega from the Compound would have done.

“Her teachings began to cause distrust among the existing Alpha/Omega harmony,” Oshrun said. “Some of the Omegas split off from the others, mostly younger ones who weren’t partnered and didn’t have children yet, and they were the ones most vulnerable. The Omega visitor helped them create this community—one that would be strong and hidden, one that didn’t need Alphas and would survive any attack.”

Naya nodded, irritation flickering in her stomach. That definitely sounded like the Mothers’ ideology. If this Omega had managed to help the ones who were taken and end the suffering that was something she could be proud of, but she had no right to disrupt successful Alpha/Omega couples or prevent future unions from forming.

“At that time, people who needed work would gather daily at the palace’s back gate, and she needed easy, flexible work to live in Onn Kkulma,” Oshrun continued, moving along the wall. “She uncovered that the Omegas were being kept there. And eventually discovered they were being forced to work on something that would allow the Sy Dynasty to control magic directly, without needing Omegas at all.”

“The device King Sy told me about,” Naya murmured.

“Yes.” Oshrun’s voice hardened. “This discovery put tremendous fear into the Omega community. No one wanted theSy, who had already shown themselves to be exploitative and cruel, to possess that kind of power.”

Naya frowned. “They would have been unstoppable.”

“Precisely. But there was another concern.” Oshrun’s eyes fixed on Naya’s. “The visitor also asked the community to consider what the Sy Dynasty would do with the Omegas in their dungeons once they had the magic they sought.”

A chill spread through Naya as understanding arose. “Once the Omegas were no longer needed…,” she murmured, “they would have killed them.”

Oshrun nodded grimly. “Loose ends. Witnesses. They posed a danger to the Sy Dynasty if anyone discovered what they’d done.”

Oshrun moved to a scene depicting chaos—figures gathered around a central object, energy bursting outward in painted waves. “On the day that the tool was to be tested, the visitor and a group of trusted Omegas infiltrated the palace. They knew they couldn’t stop the test, but they could ensure it failed catastrophically.”

“What did they do?” Naya asked, captivated by the dramatic scene before her.

“They overloaded the device with magic,” Oshrun said simply. “Far more than it was designed to channel or control.”

Naya’s heart sank. “So they sabotaged it.”

“They tried to save lives,” Oshrun corrected softly. “Though it didn’t end the way anyone expected. With more Omegas being taught to use magic by the visitor, and with the Sy Dynasty also using it more and more extensively, the defined area of wild magic in the Nnin-kka Sands begun to shift and expand. It grew more volatile.”

Naya studied the mural, trying to make sense of the figures and symbols. “Do you have any idea what they were trying to build? What kind of device was it?”

Oshrun didn’t answer. Instead, she walked across the chamber to where her staff leaned against the stone wall. She picked it up and returned to Naya’s side, holding it out between them. The crystal at its tip caught the light, sending prismatic colors dancing across the walls of the chamber.

Naya stared at it, uncomprehending for a moment. Then shock rippled through her. “That’s it? That’s what they were making?”

“Yes. Though the original was much cruder, much less refined. This is the result of generations of Omega craftsmanship and understanding.”

“What does it do?” Naya asked, eyeing the staff with new wariness. When Oshrun had first approached her in the canyon, she’d thought it just a symbol of authority. Now it seemed far more dangerous.

“It connects to thennin-eellithiand allows us to…” Her words faded, and she frowned, seemingly trying to find the right word. “To communicate with it, I suppose.”

Naya gaped at her. “It allows you to communicate with the wild magic?”

“I’m not sure the correct word to describe our connection,” Oshrun said. “But yes, ultimately we can communicate with it—feel it like the way one senses the moods and intentions of a wild creature. We can send our moods and intentions to it as well.” She turned the staff so that the crystal caught different angles of light. “As you can imagine, it is extremely sensitive to magic and we are extremely careful with it.”

“So that’s why you were alarmed when I reached for my awareness?”

“Magic here doesn’t work the way it does in your land. There is no abundance of magic in the air to draw from. Without this,” Oshrun tapped the crystal, “we wouldn’t be able to protect ourselves. Your ‘awareness’ as you call it, could damage it orcause errors or crack it… It wasn’t made for the way you use magic and we cannot risk you using it here.”

Naya nodded. “I understand. I won’t access it again while I’m here.” She glanced up at the crystal in the ceiling of the chamber. “You have expanded its use in other ways, then? I notice you have crystals in all the chambers.”

“Yes. Those work to a lesser degree, but they are a form of protection. Over the years, we have honed the way the device works for other things we need to be comfortable, but obviously this one, the Khesh’s staff, is the most powerful.”

Naya nodded, thinking for a long moment. So they had ended up making the tool the Sy Dynasty had originally wanted and were using it to ensure their survival. Smart. She gestured back to the wall. “Please continue.”

Oshrun turned back to the wall. “When the tool overloaded, it was like breaking a dam. Wild magic began rushing toward the cities and villages across Tsashokra, attracted to the Omegas and destroying everything in its wake. The only place that remained relatively safe for Omegas was this canyon.”

Nausea flooded Naya with a rush of memories of the destruction in Onn Kkulma when she’d drawn wild magic there during her escape. The screams, the collapsing buildings, the chaos. And she had caused that in just one city. For it to happen across an entire region....

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