by S. L. Wilson
‘We can do this,’ she said in a small voice. ‘Together we can get them through.’
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, heat flooding through her veins as she breathed in his scent: jasmine and the deep woody tang of the earth. She didn’t care if it was his fae powers at work or her oracle ones. She felt whole, she felt like she belonged here, wrapped in his arms.
He began to pull away but she hung on to him, keeping him close as she looked up into his beautiful face. The curve of his nose, the length of his eyelashes and the sensuous shape of his mouth were all carefully catalogued and stored in her heart. His eyes moved over her face as if he was also committing her features to memory. He leant down and gently brushed his lips against hers, everything went silent, and nothing else existed apart from him. She kissed him back, with the urgency and despair she felt coursing through her, and he clung to her, winding his hand in her hair. They were surrounded by silence, cocooned in their own passion, oblivious to everything else around them. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth and she groaned. Her heart beat quickened and she longed to stay in his embrace forever. Too soon he pulled away. ‘I can’t lose you,’ he breathed into her, hair sending an electrical current up her spine.
She trailed her thumb across his lips.
‘You won’t lose me, not now, not ever.’ He was all she wanted and the thought of being without him was too much to bear. They had to find a way, a way to search for her dad and still be together.
AMBER FOUND Connor staring into the wall of flames, a mask of pain on his face.
‘We need to move.’ She placed a hand on his shoulder, ‘Redka said the faerie ring will only get us to Avaveil, but that’s a better place to find our way home from than Phelan is right now.’
He nodded and as she moved to walk away he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her close, his face bent towards hers. For a brief moment she thought he was going to kiss her.
‘Whatever happens, I want you to know I’ll always be here for you.’
‘Thank you, Connor.’
‘I mean it, this journey is going to be hard, we will have to make some tough decisions, and I want you to know I’ve got your back.’
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug.
‘Come on, let’s get this lot out of here and pay Tinkerbell a visit.’ They smiled at each other and some of the tension lifted. As she twisted her head to look for Tom she saw her mother studying her. Amber couldn’t swallow down the unease that had crept into the pit of her stomach. For now they were together, but Myanna’s inability to choose between Amber and her loyalty to the queen hung over them like a brewing storm.
Redka led the small group back out of the cave. They headed south keeping to the shadows of the craggy rocks. The landscape was bereft of all of Alia’s elemental magic. Her powers had drained much faster after they performed the spell to call the Dragovax.
From the screams and roars drifting from the west, Amber knew the spell had worked; the sounds of battle rang in the air.
‘Let’s hope the demons keep them busy long enough to give us time to reach the faerie ring,’ Connor mumbled.
Tom lost his footing on the uneven rock, and both Amber and Connor reached out to stop him falling. ‘Thanks.’ He gave them a lopsided grin. ‘Can I ask you guys a question? I understand that the fiery cave we just left was our only way home, so why are we heading to this faerie ring?’
‘The gateway can only be opened by a key, which Loso has, or by four coven witches, and now Lydia has gone, they can’t do the spell we need,’ Connor explained.
‘Yeah, I get that, but what’s stopping Loso and his army of brutal soldiers from using the key and walking straight into Hills Heath to massacre everyone in the town?’
Amber stopped dead and looked at him with wide eyes, ‘I didn’t even think about that, he’s so angry with us that he might just burn our home to the ground as revenge.’
Redka appeared at her side and ushered her to keep walking. ‘The key is a powerful amulet and Loso has used it to access many realms. Each realm usually has its own gateway and key, unique to that particular land, but Loso’s key can grant him access to any realm. I don’t think he would concentrate his efforts on destroying your realm, even if he is out for revenge. It’s Avaveil that would be in peril as we have taken the queen.’
‘Don’t we need this key to get through your faerie gateway?’ Tom asked.
‘No, I have made this gateway in secret, it doesn’t need a key so we will need to destroy it once we are all safely through.’
‘If we use the faerie ring to escape, aren’t we just going to end up even further away from home?’
‘The faerie ring will take us to Avaveil,’ Redka explained. ‘This is my homeland. My people will help us find a way to get you home, Tom, do not fear.’
‘Does your homeland have an army of evil soldiers looking to skin us all alive?’
Redka laughed. No, my friend, Avaveil is a peaceful realm full of beauty and colourful characters – or so my mother tells me.’
‘You’ve never been to your own homeland?’
‘I was born in Phelan, my mother was taken from Avaveil when she was pregnant, so any memories are what my mother has shared with me, but trust me, Tom, it is much better than here.’
Tom laughed. ‘There can’t be anywhere worse than here!’
‘Tell me more about the gateways,’ Amber said as she fell into step beside Redka.
‘Phelan’s gateway as you know is made of fire; our faerie ring will transport us to Avaveil’s gateway which is an ancient oak tree in the west woods. The oak is cloaked in elemental magic and moves to conceal its position.’
‘Clever, but doesn’t that mean we could end up anywhere in Avaveil when we arrive?’
‘It does, but my mother will be able to guide us to the castle.’
‘Are there other realms?’
‘There are many: the dragon realm, the Lost Lands, each has a unique gateway, one which Loso’s key can access.’
‘He could invade any realm then?’
‘Yes, his own lands were plundered many thousands of years ago which is what drove him to Phelan. Why he chose this place I don’t know but it has served him well. None of the other great realm leaders had any desire for this place, leaving him alone for centuries to build an army.’
‘Maybe that was his plan all along: build his army in secret and then conquer the other realms. Your own people couldn’t find your mother when she was taken prisoner, so he has the perfect hiding place.’
‘What are you saying, Amber?’
‘I’m saying that it isn’t just the human and fae realms that are in danger. Once the others are safely through your faerie ring we may have to think seriously about staying behind to find that key.’
All three boys began talking at once, their voices raised.
‘No way, we are getting you to safety,’ Connor cried.
‘We must leave, we can work out a plan from Avaveil and utilise my mother’s armies but we are leaving this place, Amber.’
‘Cutie, now is not the time for heroics.’ Tom’s warm eyes held hers as she nodded at him.
‘I know you’re all right, but Loso is more dangerous than any of us realise and we do need to stop him.’
‘We aren’t disputing that, Amber,’ Connor said softly, ‘but let’s stop him once we have our own army, when we are better equipped and maybe after a hot bath and bowl of stew.’
She laughed. ‘That does sound better actually.’
Alia called out from up ahead, interrupting their discussion. They had arrived at the faerie ring.
Amber didn’t know what she had been expecting a faerie ring to look like, but a simple circle of stones wasn’t it. She had been about to ask Redka if this was it when she saw Queen Alia praise him for his work and realised that this plain-looking circle was also cloaked in elemental magic.
She closed her eyes and concentrated her own
powers, grounding and shielding herself then sending her energies to her third eye chakra. When she finally opened her eyes she gasped; the circle of stones glowed a deep purple. A curtain of silver stars shot up into the sky from the ground, shimmering and swirling as the magic coursed through it. It was the most incredible thing Amber had ever seen.
Redka was organising everyone into groups. ‘Only two people at a time can travel through the portal, so we will do this in stages. I haven’t had time to test this, so let’s pray that it works and doesn’t rip us all into a million pieces or leave us floating in some in-between realm for all eternity.’
‘Is that a possibility?’ Tom asked as he eyed the circle of stones suspiciously.
‘Don’t worry, Tom, I’ll be right beside you.’ Myanna wrapped her arm around his waist and squeezed.
‘Thanks, Mrs N.’
MAGGIE AND Alia went first, sending one of Alia’s silver slippers back through the gateway to prove it had worked and they weren’t floating in nowhere land. With great relief etched on Tom’s drawn features, he and Myanna went next.
Amber clung to Tom before he stepped through the silver curtain.
‘I will be right behind you, Tom,’ she told him. ‘You will be perfectly safe with Mum.’ She turned to her mother and gave her a tight hug. ‘Take care of each other and I will see you soon.’
‘Chill out, cutie, I’ve coped all this time without you, I’m sure another sixty seconds won’t kill me.’
She gave him a mock frown then sent him through the gateway.
Connor stepped forward and looked at the circle of stones, ‘Amber, are you coming?’ he held out his hand to escort her through into the circle. Instinctively she stepped back but regretted her action as she saw the pain ghost across his face.
‘You go ahead,’ she said. ‘We’ll bring up the rear.’
He looked at her for a long moment before stepping into the silver curtain without another word. She felt a pain shoot through her chest as she watched the magic energy swallow him whole.
‘Are you ready?’ she asked Redka, eager to get out of Phelan and leave the black rocks behind.
‘Almost.’ He looked around the floor until he found the cloth sack he had been carrying. ‘Nearly forgot our supplies, we don’t want to reach Avaveil without the ingredients for Connor’s stew now, do we?’
Amber laughed and waited by the silver curtain. She could feel the power coursing through it as the magic tore a hole in reality. It really was an amazing creation, and she pondered how many years Redka had been building this in secret.
A loud demonic roar filled the air and Amber whirled to look for Redka. ‘We have to move, now!’
She glanced in the direction of the demon’s roar and then back to where Redka was retrieving his cloth sack. He faltered, a look of complete horror and shock carved across his handsome features.
Amber watched as the sack slipped from his grasp and he pitched to his knees, a silver blade protruding from his chest.
As he sank to the floor, blood gushing from his wound, a golden phoenix filled her vision and Loso’s immense frame stepped into view from behind Redka’s fallen body.
‘NO!’ she screamed, rushing forward just as Loso pulled the sword free and Redka collapsed to the floor.
‘You foolish girl, did you think I would just let you walk out of my realm? I have built an empire here among the rocks, an army who follows my every command and I am IMMORTAL!’ his voice boomed across the rocky terrain, flames rising higher from the open craters which encircled the faerie ring.
Amber broke down in tears as she knelt on the floor and cradled Redka’s body. His breathing was shallow and he was losing blood from the stab wound. Her heart thundered in her chest and she coughed as the heat from the flames intensified.
‘I will not allow you to die in this hellhole,’ she told him, kissing his forehead and intertwining her fingers with his. ‘Don’t you dare die on me, Redka, we are bound together.’
His body jerked uncontrollably and he let out a strangled cry, his head rolled to the side and his fingers fell from her grasp as his body grew limp in her arms.
A sudden overwhelming rage swept through her as she carefully lowered his head to the floor. She stood to face Loso, her eyes cold and hard. The energy rose up from her feet, pouring into every fibre of her body until it vibrated through to her bones, stronger than she had ever felt before. With her hands held out to the side she channelled all her power to her sacral chakra, deep in her belly. She could sense her own emotions beginning to take over: her rage, grief and anger coursing through her with an unquestionable thirst for revenge.
The ground around them began to shake as she pulled even more power from the earth. Craters opened up around them and hot molten lava spewed out of the tops, the sky rumbled and fiery bolts of lightning cracked above them.
‘How are you doing this?’ Loso shouted above the noise, his face showing the first signs of fear as the ground beneath him bucked and twisted. ‘You’re just a girl.’
Amber’s lips pulled back over her teeth in a feral snarl. ‘How wrong you are, General.’
He leapt to the side as the earth sliced open, coughing up balls of fire.
Amber’s hands glowed a deep orange and small flames licked the surface of her arms and clothes. The fire circled her like a cloak, whipping her hair around her face, but the inferno didn’t burn, it caressed her and moved as one with her. She lifted her arms skywards and the winds rose and tore at the black rocks, showering Loso with debris as he shielded his immense bulk.
Amber walked forward, her hands still held out as she channelled all her rage into the storm she rained down on him. She kicked his sword away and stood over him, chanting under her breath as words poured into her from an unknown entity. Something caught her eye and she leant down to snatch the pendant from his neck.
He kicked out with his heavy boot and sent her crashing to the floor, her power snapping back inside her like an elastic band. With the wind knocked out of her, Loso was quick to regain his composure and snatch up his sword.
He struck her hard across the cheek with the back of his hand as she tried to scramble to her feet. She hit the ash-covered floor hard and rolled onto her back just as he raised the tip of his sword to her throat. She crawled backwards over the ground, slicing her hands open on the rocks as she went.
He leered at her as she came to a stop by Redka’s body.
‘You are all alone, little girl, your friends have abandoned you, your prince is dead. You belong to me now.’
As he pulled his arm back to strike her she closed her eyes tightly and clung to Redka’s broken body, but the blow didn’t come and she slowly opened her eyes.
A Dragovax held Loso aloft by the throat, its claws digging into his flesh as dark black liquid spilled down his armour. Its rancid teeth were showing, stained with blood from a fresh kill.
‘I am immortal!’ boomed Loso as he sliced wildly at the creature with his sword.
‘No, General, you aren’t.’ Amber stood on shaky legs, keeping a wary eye on the mountainous creature that held Loso in a vice-like grip. ‘My mother has tricked you for many years and the blood that runs in your veins is not immortal fae blood but the blood of lavahogs.’
His fiery red eyes grew wide as her revelation hit home, and he struggled against the demon’s grip, twisting to try to free himself.
Amber stumbled backwards as more Dragovax demons approached, their attention captured by the general as he flailed his arms and legs.
She reached down for Redka, keeping a watchful eye on the demons. Grabbing his arms she dragged his body in the direction of the circle of stones. There was no way she was leaving him in Phelan.
Loso roared as he cut at the demon holding him, causing it to drop him to the ground.
Amber screamed as he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her away from the gateway. Redka’s body hovered on the edge of the ring, blood pooling around his fallen body. Loso tossed Amber
to the floor and she rolled over the dusty ground, crashing into the black rocks. She leapt to her feet and watched as Loso kicked Redka hard in the stomach, his cruel laugh reverberating off the black rocks. ‘Your broken little prince is worthless now.’
A deep growl bubbled up from the back of her throat. Her vision was hazy from the blood that was pouring from a cut above her eye. She let her gaze rest briefly on Redka’s body, lying still and bleeding at Loso’s feet. With absolute clarity she knew that she loved him, and that she now had the power to rip the world in two if she had to live without him. She readied herself for Loso’s attack, and her power rushed forward as she pulled it from the ground. She sent columns of fire up from the craters. Her grief and anger took over and the pain she felt coursed through her veins unguarded. Somewhere in a detached part of her mind she could sense Lavanya calling to her, but her raw emotions had taken control. Her body was a living flame, consumed by magic. She pulled her hands back and threw the fire that surrounded her at the general. It hit him square in the chest and he screamed as the flames engulfed him, the smell of burning flesh filling the air.
Lavanya’s musical voice called to her again, a sound so far away that it seemed to be coming down to her from the heavens, calling for her to stop, to return to herself before she was overcome by magic. Amber heard her sweet voice and clung to it with her mind, pulling herself back from the red rage that surrounded her, hanging on to every syllable, every sentence until the world came rushing back to her. She collapsed to the floor as the world spun black and orange around her. The demons surged forward and surrounded Loso, his cries and screams filling the air as they tore him apart.
Resisting the urge to vomit, she ran to Redka’s side and grabbed at his shirt. She hoisted him into a sitting position, her arms hooked under his armpits as he let out a soft cry.
‘Redka, oh, thank God you’re alive, please hold on for me, I’m taking you home.’
With a final look at the frenzied mass of demons ripping into Loso’s body, she dragged Redka across the stone circle and through the silver curtain.
