Free Revolutionary Magic (with Bonus Content) by Thomas K. Carpenter

country, my advice is less valuable."
    "Though we should not cross them off our list, I do not believe it is one of these, or if it is, they are being used," said Ben.
    He and Smith shared a knowing glance. Immediately, my hackles rose as I made a connection previously missed. I clasped my hands tightly and addressed them both.
    "You already know about the powers of the stone, don't you?" I asked, knowing the answer. I continued in the tone of an irritated schoolmarm. "Otherwise you would have questioned me further on that point. Am I to be privy to nothing?"
    Ben made a halfhearted smile towards Smith. "Yes, we know what the stone can do, though we had no idea that it could work just by being on flesh, or maybe the gauntlet is meant to mimic the powers of that horrible creature."
    "The portal ability as well?" I asked.
    "That as well," he said. "Though we know not how to control it. Except for our ability to detect the use of its magic, we don't know how to make anything else happen, except by accident, which makes using it quite dangerous."
    It was my turn to pace, as frustrations added up until even I couldn't remain still. They watched while I stomped back and forth, wishing I hadn't worn the dress. When it hit me, I was glad I didn't have my rapier, or I might have stabbed Ben in the leg, just to teach him a lesson about keeping secrets.
    "You've had the gauntlet for more than a decade, haven't you?" I asked, further connections forming like spider webs.
    Both Ben and Adam appeared stunned, open mouths gaping.
    "The powder," I said. "You didn't come up with that formula yourself. It's from this other place, where the creature and the magic is coming from."
    Ben gazed at me flatly, like a parent who'd had a surprise for their child spoiled.
    "The magic isn't coming from there," he said. "It's everywhere—we just don't know how to access it."
    Adam Smith puffed up as if to keep Ben from explaining, but Ben put his hand out, staying the disagreement before it could leave Smith's lips.
    "Better that I fill in the rest of the picture than her getting the wrong idea," said Ben. "Ignorance of the details could doom us. She must know the danger we're all in."
    Ben motioned for everyone to take a seat, which I did reluctantly, as the need to pace had not left my twitchy legs.
    "The gauntlet was acquired nearly twenty years ago when I was in Paris. Voltaire and I were investigating a series of murders involving influential members of the third estate. At the time, we thought the killings were being propagated by the Crown, to silence the restless bourgeois that had only begun to awaken. How wrong we were," said Ben, gazing into the past.
    I'd never seen him so uneasy, as if he'd remembered things he'd long tried to repress.
    "The creature was using the gauntlet for the murders?" I asked.
    Ben blinked heavily, screwed his mouth up in a frown, and then, seeming to finally realize I'd spoken, nodded. "Yes, yes. It was and we stopped it."
    "What was it?" I asked.
    A bit of darkness passed across Ben's eyes. "I'd rather not say. Better to leave it forgotten and concentrate on the present. There's nothing we can learn from that except what I've already told you."
    When he said the words, his gaze flit to me, and I saw for a brief moment that there was something else important about those days, but he wasn't going to share it.
    Then the darkness passed and he continued as if he'd never been bothered. "It was this event that led to the formation of the Transcendent Society, though we did not call it that until the night I accidently passed over to the other side."
    "To where?" I asked, impatient for an answer.
    "Voltaire calls it the Land of the Obsidian Castle, but I call it Otherland. I found myself in a lightless place, yet I could see as easily as daytime. It reminded me of the sky during an eclipse. I stood in a garden surrounded by castle walls except the stone was like obsidian, smooth and black and reflective. Then I—"
    He