The journey to the Halloween Banner's outpost took a full day by skycarriage.
Ashen sat in silence for most of it, staring through the enchanted glass. Trees below passed like whispers. Clouds drifted past, lazy and sunlit. But even with the sky open around him, he felt more confined than he had in the cell.
Captain Drael sat opposite him, arms crossed, eyes closed—not sleeping, just still. Like a wolf that didn't need to move to remind you it had teeth.
Ashen broke the silence first.
"You don't ask a lot of questions."
Drael didn't open his eyes. "You don't offer many answers."
Ashen turned back to the window.
Their destination was a crumbling manor built into the side of a forested cliff. It looked like it had been abandoned a dozen times and reoccupied by ghosts. Ivy choked the outer stone. Lanterns burned with mismatched colors. A crooked weather vane turned even when there was no wind.
A sign dangled on rusted hinges above the main gate: THE HALLOWEEN BANNER — burned in half and repainted in dripping purple ink.
Ashen stepped out and took a breath. The air smelled like pine, moss, and burnt cinnamon.
He barely had time to take it in before a girl with frost-lined gloves threw open the door.
"Is this him?" she asked, eyes wide.
Drael gave the faintest nod.
The girl grinned. "About time. We were starting bets on whether he even existed."
Ashen blinked. "What?"
"Welcome to the squad," she said, and held out a hand. "Lina. Ice mage. I'm the nice one."
Before he could answer, another voice called from inside.
"Lina, stop scaring the new guy!"
A young man with copper hair and crackling fingertips leaned around the corner.
"I'm Kael. Lightning specialist. I'm the handsome one."
"You're the loud one," Lina muttered.
"Loud and devastatingly charming."
Ashen just stared.
More figures appeared: a gaunt young man with a fungal mask on his belt, a girl with a cursed puppet strapped to her back, and a boy in a reflective cloak who never quite looked you in the eye.
"We're a little unconventional," Drael said, brushing past. "But effective."
The manor's interior was as strange as the outside—books stacked like towers, magical runes glowing under rugs, and a floating kettle that poured tea whether you asked or not.
Ashen set down his single bag in the room he was shown—dusty, but private. The window overlooked the woods. He didn't unpack. He just sat for a moment, pendant cold against his chest.
That night, they had dinner together in a crooked dining hall.
Ashen listened more than spoke. Lina and Kael argued about whether ghosts were real. Brill mimicked their voices using his mirror magic. Tess fed her cursed doll little bits of charred bread. Fen quietly picked mushrooms out of the soup and dropped them into his sleeve.
For the first time in a long time, Ashen didn't feel entirely invisible.
Not accepted. Not yet.
But seen.
And in this broken house, with this broken squad, that felt like something.
Later that evening...
Ashen found himself sitting on the back balcony with Kael and Lina, watching the forest below catch the orange gleam of the setting sun. Someone had conjured little floating flame-lanterns that bobbed lazily in the air.
Kael nudged Ashen with his elbow. "So. Anti-magic, huh? That's... terrifying."
Ashen shrugged. "You're not wrong."
Lina smirked. "Well, terrifying fits in just fine around here."
Kael leaned back on his elbows. "We've all got something weird. Tess's doll bit a visiting inspector once. Brill sometimes answers questions before you ask them. And Fen's mushrooms have emotions."
Ashen glanced at Lina. "And you?"
"I like the cold," she said. "And people tend to stay away from it. Works for me."
They sat in silence for a while. Not uncomfortable.
Just... present.
The Magic Mishap
Back inside, a crash sounded from the eastern wing.
Kael groaned. "Not again."
They ran through the crooked hallway, past leaning portraits and flickering sconces, and into a side lab filled with glowing vials and drifting paper.
Brill was stuck halfway inside a full-length mirror that now shimmered like jelly.
"I said don't touch the anomaly!" Tess was shouting. "It looked unstable!"
Brill's voice came from both inside and outside the mirror. "I was trying to stabilize it, thank you very much!"
Lina sighed and stepped forward, conjuring a thin mist of frost. She touched the corner of the mirror. "Ashen, watch this. The mirror's holding a reflection portal. It gets stuck if there's too much ambient magic."
She nodded to Ashen. "Dampen it."
Ashen looked at her, then at the mirror. The pendant pulsed.
He stepped forward, focused, and extended his hand.
The shimmer dulled. The air grew still. The surface of the mirror rippled, then spat Brill out in a very undignified tumble.
"I meant to do that," he muttered.
Everyone groaned. Kael clapped Ashen on the back. "See? Natural fit."
Ashen allowed himself a small smile.
Later that night...
Ashen stood in the hallway just outside the captain's quarters. The door was cracked open, a soft light glowing within.
"You can come in," Drael's voice said.
Ashen stepped inside. The room was lined with books and black iron candleholders. A faded map of the kingdom covered one wall, marked with pins and notes.
"I just..." Ashen hesitated. "I wanted to say thank you. For not treating me like a threat."
"You are a threat," Drael said plainly. "But not to us. Not unless you choose to be."
Ashen looked down. "I didn't choose any of this."
"No one does," Drael replied. "But you can choose what you become."
Ashen studied him. "Why did you take me in?"
Drael leaned back in his chair. "Because I've seen power like yours before. Not anti-magic. But something born from being cast out. That kind of power doesn't want to destroy things—not at first. It just wants a place to stand."
Ashen nodded slowly.
Drael turned back to the map. "You're standing now. Let's see what you do with it."
HALLOWEEN BANNER – CURRENT MEMBERS
Ashen – Anti-magic bearer. Recently chosen by a sentient black pendant that generates a gauntlet, cloak, and armor-like attire made of anti-magic. He has no traditional magical affinity and does not use spellcasting.
Captain Drael Veyne – Darkfire magic. Reserved and highly strategic. Wields a sentient blade forged from shadowfire, his artifact: The Ember Fang — a greatsword that burns only what he wills. It responds to emotion and silence.
Lina – Ice magic. Fierce and sardonic, Lina carries the artifact Crysalune — a crystalline circlet that allows her to control temperature gradients and create razor-frost constructs.
Kael – Lightning magic. Bold and impulsive. His artifact, Stormcoil Bracers, channels unstable arcs and lets him build electrical charge for devastating short-range bursts.
Brill – Mirror magic. Mysterious and theatrical. Wields The Refraction Cloak, which can bend light, displace reflections, and create mirror-doubles that briefly act independently.
Tess – Cursed Object magic. Unnervingly calm. Her artifact is Umbra, a living doll that channels cursed energy and acts as a magical siphon, storage vessel, and occasional attacker.
Fen – Rot/Fungus magic. Quiet and eerie, Fen carries The Spore Lantern, a fungal relic that produces hallucinations, spores, and regenerates rot-touched terrain.