“You have to want it to connect. You can’t be afraid of losing your power, it can’t go anywhere. You all took the potion right? So your magic is safe.”
The remaining struggling ones expanded. Then the third row back managed to create the shield around themselves. It swelled out like a soap bubble, opaque and shiny. Then it popped.
“Try again,” I said to them as the others began to form smaller bubbles around hands, heads, feet. Only the third row managed to encase the entire row of them.
“This isn’t working, what are you not telling us?” Crow spat, releasing her hand from the Nazieth beside her.
“I have explained it the only way I know how. Look, you might just need more power.”
“You did it before you got the Tanzieth magic, so we should be able to too. We are pure after all.”
“Purity has nothing to do with it,” I said through gritted teeth. I could blow her up. Would they even be able to stop me?
Jax’s hand rested on my lower back and I took a breath to calm my thoughts before responding.
“Each of you on the ends, place your free arm on the fey in front of you. If there is no one in front of you, place your hand over the one resting on your shoulder to close the loop. Then try again.”
Crow scrunched up her nose at me but turned and did as I said. A few of them struggled to open up again, but as soon as they did and pushed out the shield, it went entirely over them and the gateway behind them.
“Great, now push it off you. See the bubble expand and grow to encase every blade of grass, every stone, every tree. You have to want to protect it. You have to want to protect it all.”
I watched and the shield grew, moving up and out, encasing the gateway and the buildings either side.
“We are expected to just stand here like this now?” Crow asked, craning her neck back to look at me.
“You can try to hold it as you each let go one by one. Find the minimum number needed to maintain the shield and take turns in doing it. I have to go. Once we hear back from the elves, hopefully you won’t have to shield it at all.”
“Pfft, like the elves will help us,” Crow said, looking back to the gateway.
“Seriously,” I huffed and turned away with Jax to head home to Baldea.
“You went without me,” Jax said once we were clear of Sayeesies.
“I couldn’t let you risk your life for me again.”
“But you can risk yours for Grace?”
“Yes. It was my fault she was taken in the first place, so hell yes. I think that qualifies.”
“Des, what about Ava?”
“It’s because of Ava I left you here. If I didn’t come back, she would have you. I was not going to risk her losing the both of us.”
“You don’t get to make that decision.”
“Look, Jax, I get it. Fey knows you have been my hero more times than I can count. But this...” I said, stopping and pointing to the fading sky of Sayeesies. “You didn’t do this. I did. I opened the portal, I let in the demons. I did it. I’m the reason those fey were possessed, why the humans are still being attacked, and why Grace was nearly killed by her psychotic father. I think I get to decide who is at risk. I can’t have anyone else die because of me.”
“That’s just it, Des, you don’t!”
“What?”
“You don’t get to decide this. We are all at risk now, we all have a right to fight or flee, and it should be our choice which path we take.”
My eyes prickled with the onset of tears, but there was no holding them back. Before the first tear fell, his arms were around me and we dropped to the ground together. I nestled against his chest, sobbing like a child.
“Even if you never discovered this realm, if he never found you, he would still be doing this, he would still be a threat to the fey, the fabled, any being with power. This isn’t just your fight and you have to stop bearing the weight of his actions. Come on...” he whispered into my hair. “How about we go see Ava?”
“Yes, a million times yes.”
He released me and I let him help me stand.
“How are we going to get there?”
“One of the orbs from the king’s last delivery. All we have to do is break it,” he said, pulling out a glass ball the size of a grape and filled with a swirling pink mist. “The king or Sien will open the door as they did before, but only into your father’s study, so we have to go there first.”
“Let’s fly, it’ll be quicker.”
Jax phased and his magnificent blue wings fluttered behind him as he scooped me up into his arms.
“You carried me all those times, now it’s my turn to carry you.”
“I can still fly Jax.”
“But Maylea said Traflier took your magic.”
“No, he took the fabled magic. I still have the rest.”
“Too late, I’m carrying you now anyway.”
I laid my head against his chest and listened to the drum of his heart. “Fine by me.”
Then he lifted off with a swoop of his wings and flew us across the muted sky of Sayeesies, home to Baldea.
When we got to the study no one was there, so we quickly crushed the glass orb. The pink mist rose up around Jax’s foot, then disappeared completely.
“Did it work?” I asked just as the room began to glow with a familiar orange light.
The gateway was being opened from the Elf Kingdom.
The light grew and surrounded us in its warm glow. Then the pin of blue light appeared in front of me. It grew bigger, swirling like a wall of rough seas, the same as it had done the first time. When it was about the size of a door, it solidified and cracked down the middle.
Without Blake here, I wondered if I should place my hand on it as he had done, but the crack glowed an intense emerald green, moaned and grew wider. The door began to open. I shielded my eyes from the light, but when it dimmed, I saw the throne room of the Elf Kingdom, and Ava waiting for me, wearing a wide smile and a very poufy dress.
12
THE MOMENT WE STEPPED forward she threw her arms around my neck.
“Ava, look at you,” I said, holding her out at arm’s length then pulling her into hug again.
“Come on, Des, let the girl breath a second.” Jax laughed from beside me. I released her only for him to wrap her up in his arms and spin her around a second later. “My beautiful girl, you look wonderful.”
“Thanks, Dad, I have been learning so much.”
Jax stopped their spin and let Ava’s feet touch the ground. “Like what?”
“Like how to make the orbs that Blake sends through to grandpa. It’s so cool. They have way more ingredients here, and even more access to ones from other realms. Did you know Blake can open a door to any realm he wants if he has been there before. Like anywhere. How cool is that?”
“It’s way cool,” I said, trying my best not to sound lame. I don’t think it worked as Ava stifled a giggle. “But what if Traflier figures out how to do that too? Could he even?” I asked, turning to King Blake.
He shook his head. “The elf magic is what creates the doors I use. The dwarves hold a similar magic, but even they cannot breach our wards anymore. There is no way Traflier is getting into our kingdom.”
“We sent word to the dwarves to evacuate to the Feydom, we think Traflier might go after them if he can’t get through your wards himself. Oh, that’s another thing, the council sent word about the barrier, did the elves find a way to help the Feydom shield itself from Traflier?”
King Blake shook his head. “There isn’t anything we can do there to help them, but...”
“But what?” Jax asked as he ran his hand over the curls at the back of Ava’s head.
“The fey can come here and be protected by our barrier. If I remain in the Elf Kingdom, the barrier in place is stronger than any magic I know of.”
“But there is more than just the fey at risk,” I said, running through the list of creatures in my mind. equillis, firebirds, sprites...
&
nbsp; “They can all come,” Blake assured.
“Is the Elf Kingdom big enough?”
Ava laughed out loud, immediately slapping her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, Mum, but you have no idea. Blake,” she began as she dashed to him and bounced on her toes in excitement. “Can I show them?”
He smiled down at her. “Sure.”
Ava jumped up and down excitedly then ran towards the back of the throne room, her poufy skirt making it look like she was floating rather than running.
“Mum, come on. Dad, you have to see this.”
We followed her behind the thick drapes that hung behind the throne.
“Isn’t this the chambers where...”
“I do not keep this room the same as my predecessor. It lay vacant for some time, until Ava discovered it and asked to convert it.”
“Ava?”
“Yes, she said there was a place at home that had become like a sanctuary for her, so I helped her to create something similar here.”
Ava stood at the end of the short hallway that sat behind the throne drapes. She was bouncing on her toes by a large wooden door. The carvings on it depicted fruits and what looked like cherubs but with high pointed ears.
“You are going to love this, Mum,” she said, then pushed opened the door. The room was a greenhouse, potted plants of all different kinds ran the length of the room with a winding path through them. “Come on, there is more.”
“More than this?” I asked, following her along the path and running my fingers along the edge of the plants on my way. A pink fluffy ball caught my eye and I stopped to touch the cotton candy like tips. “What is this?”
“Ferraris grass,” Blake answered picking a strand and holding it out for me to take. “Actually, I believe the human realm has something similar, called muhly grass. Ours is flavored and is a key ingredient in the orb you used to alert me to open the door into the Elf Kingdom.”
“Flavored?” I asked, holding the stalk up to my nose to smell it. It kind of smelled of vanilla and lavender.
“It’s sweet at first, like sugar,” he said, and I popped the end into my mouth. “But it has a bitter aftertaste if eaten raw.”
I froze. “Start with that next time,” I said as the fluffy end dissolved against my tongue. The sweetness dissipated and the sourness took over. “Do you have any water?”
“No, but here, chew on this,” Blake said passing me an elderberry.
“You can grow the same berries as the Fey?” Jax asked, going to the shrub Blake had pulled the berry from for me. “How do you get them to grow indoors?”
“We have casts that simulate the perfect environment for each variety. Makes indoor growth easy.”
“Mum, over here,” Ava called from down the path further. The room probably wasn’t that big, but the path through the plants weaved like a snake and made it feel enormous. When I caught sight of her again I saw immediately what she wanted to show me.
Through an archway covered in silver dandilillies was a view of the Elf Kingdom. It ran further than the eye could see and its sky was as blue as the clearest day in the human realm. “Look, a blue sky.” Ava beamed.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding. Jax, look they could fit our entire Feydom in here.”
Jax caught up and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me against him tightly. “Do you think the council will approve an evacuation?”
“They better.”
“Your Highness, how soon can you draw up an invitation? The council won’t take it only on my word, and I expect the creatures will take some additional convincing.”
“What about the ones who can’t leave?” Jax asked, and I turned in his arms.
“What do you mean ‘can’t’?”
“The pink worm things in the pool of light, they can’t leave. They are a part of the pool.”
“Then we will find another way to keep them safe... maybe if we pour some of the potion into the water, they will at least be protected from him draining their magic too?”
Jax kissed my cheek and turned me back to face the Elf Kingdom while he went to look at a few of the plants with Ava.
King Blake came to stand beside me. “I can have a formal invitation for all who reside in the Feydom drawn up immediately, but you mustn’t assume all will want to accept.”
“You’re right. Many will probably try to stay, but if we get the council to accept the evacuation, then the fey will have to come.”
“Either way, those who wish to come will be welcome here.”
“Thanks. How are things going with Ava? Has she been able to keep from absorbing more magic?”
“Yes, it has gone quite well. Only her fey magic resides within her. We thought we had a moment where her protection faltered, but Sien found another way to shield her. Hence the dress.”
“The dress is protecting her?”
“It’s old, imbued with a magic I don’t fully understand, but it appears to be protecting her. She can’t even phase while wearing it.”
“Mum, will you come too?” Ava asked, squeezing between the king and I.
“Once everyone is out, I’ll be here,” I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and resting the side of my head against hers. She smelled of vanilla and orange. I wanted to stay there, looking out at the wonder of the Elf Kingdom while breathing in her sweet scent.
Ava pointed out the different paces she had visited while there, and Blake left to write up the invitation. As soon as it was done, we returned to the throne room to head home to the Feydom.
Leaving Ava was always hard, but knowing she was safe made it a little easier.
“Come back quickly, Mum,” Ava said as she squeezed me tightly in her arms. The dress made it difficult to pull her in close.
“Take these, and distribute to the ones you wish to evacuate,” Blake said, handing me a basket full of the small orbs filled with pink smoke. “I can open up to three doorways at once, we will get them all out quickly.
Inside you will find a few of the demon trackers too. If the stone glows, a demon is near. Do not open the gateway if this is so. If you are right, Traflier will be trying to find a way in here, and those orbs could have me opening a door right to him.”
“Thank you,” I said then kissed Ava on the cheek and walked through the portal back to my father’s study.
Max was there, sitting behind his desk, grumbling over some scrolls he was reading.
“Dad, we have great news,” I said, plonking the basket of orbs on top of the scroll he was reading.
“You have a way to shield the Feydom?”
“Okay, so not great news, but good news. The King has offered to provide refuge for all in the Feydom. Including the firebirds and equillis.”
“Then we flee?”
“Yes, we flee. Dad, we can’t fight him and protect everyone at the same time. As long as everyone is safe, then we can plan a strategy to defeat him.”
“And these?” he asked, picking one of the orbs up. “These are for what then?”
“The king can open doorways into the Elf Kingdom from wherever one is broken. If we take them to the others in the Feydom, the king will get them all out. And these,” I said, picking up a tracker wand. “These will ensure we don’t open a door with a demon lurking around, or give an orb to a possessed.”
He rolled the orb of pink mist around in one hand, eyeing it as a deep frown formed over his brow.
“Dad, what’s wrong?”
“Something doesn’t add up,” he said, dropping the orb back in with the others and sliding out the scroll I had covered with the basket. “There have been reports of fey going missing. But the Nazieth are holding the barrier. No one would be silly enough to try to portal out with it in place. But there is no sign of struggle either.”
“Maybe they are hiding?”
“They would take their families if that were true. No. Something else is going on. I have to figure this out.”
“Dad, this is more of a reason to start the ev
acuation. We need to meet with the council, have them approve this straight away.”
“You’re right, but first, do you think maybe you can put your shield up around at least some of the Feydom?”
“I’ll try.”
“Whatever you can will be better than what it has now.”
I pushed out the shield and it swelled out like a giant yellow balloon. I managed to get it around Baldea and Sayeesies, but it wavered when I tried to push it further, it wouldn’t stretch over the Danzor mountains or the backlands of Baldea.
“I will call the council together, but this late, it might take a while to gather them all. I don’t know why he hasn’t attacked here yet. He must be after something else first, I just can’t figure out what. What could he possibly be after now? You two go, get some sleep. You look like you need it,” Max said, pulling another scroll from under the basket. “I will wake you when it is time for the meeting.”
I lifted the basket from his desk and carried it out with Jax to our room.
“I’m wrecked,” I said as I pushed open our bedroom door.
“Me too. Come on, we can shower tomorrow. I just want to crash,” Jax replied, falling onto the bed and crawling towards his pillow.
I closed the door, put the basket on my dresser, and fell into bed beside him.
“Des,” Jax asked softly.
“Mmmhmm,” I hummed, my eyes already closed and my mind drifting off.
“I love you.”
“I love you more,” I replied, and his arm curled around me. We drifted off to sleep and woke to loud knocking on the door.
“Desmoree, Jax, the meeting will begin soon,” Tai’s voice called form the hall.
“We will meet you there,” Jax called back and we climbed out of bed. Only then did I see the mud and grime we had covered the bed in.
“Maylea is going to kill us,” Jax said, brushing a little of the dried dirt to the floor.
“Leave it, we can lock the door and fix it later. She will be at the Sage clinic for sure by now anyway.”
“Probably. Come on, quick shower?”
“Definitely.”
We shared the shower and helped wash each other in those lovely hard to reach places. There wasn’t time for anything else. After dressing, I grabbed the invitations and basket of goodies.
Destroying the Fallen Page 19
