Assembly (Kaeli POV)

Taking a deep breath, Kaeli sets aside the last component she needed to complete. Looking around the room, she takes in the carefully arranged pieces of metal, all glowing faintly. Carefully, she picks her way through to the one cleared space, where an elaborate design is engraved into the stone floor, inlaid with silver. Stepping into the center, Kaeli pauses.

In the time since the hunter was released, she has buried herself in her work. Now, the final steps are complete, and she can assemble her creation. An advantage of her loss of status was that no one checked on her. Niran couldn’t care less, and Victoria…

Kaeli sighs. Lifting her hands, a blue glow appears in her eyes. Throughout the room, various components lift up and begin to slot together, with faint clanks and rasps of metal on metal. Her brow furrows as she concentrates, the device taking shape in front of her. The inlays in the floor glow the same blue, the silver flowing as if liquid. Finally, the last piece comes together, and the now spherical device settles to the floor with a solid thunk.

The glow fades, her eyes shifting back to brown, and the inlays returning to inert solidity. Kneeling, Kaeli inspects the sphere. Assembled, it’s relatively nondescript, a seemingly solid orb with little in the way of distinguishing features aside from a trio of switches. Nodding to herself, she closes her eyes, and concentrates, resting her hand on the sphere. There’s a flash, and the device vanishes.

Kaeli remains kneeling, eyes closed. The device will activate when it’s needed. One more betrayal, but one that lifts a weight from her soul. The hunter would track them down, nothing could stop him. But, if he were defeated, Victoria would be out of options. Kaeli is hoping to take advantage of that. Helping free Nicholas was only part of it. She didn’t need powers of prophecy to see his potential, and that sparked something that had lain dormant in her for ages.

Kaeli stands, walking towards the door as her thoughts begin to whirl. It was more than his potential. It wasn’t logic, or planning, or strategy. It was something far simpler, something that she hadn’t seen in several lifetimes. When Kaeli saw them, brazenly making their attempt at a rescue, it hit her. And although she had already decided to aid them, it was right then that she knew that her loyalty changed. Anyone who could inspire that kind of devotion…

With a grimace, Kaeli shakes her head. She needed a new project. These thoughts intruded every time, and with them the thought that she could become someone else. She is on the wrong side of this conflict. She always has been. All she can do is aid with her trinkets. That will be enough. It has to be enough.