Henrick's expression darkened. "Who the bloody fuck do you think you are?" he asked.
Ms. Abagail just shook her head. "No," she said calmly. "You don't have any power over me anymore. I saved Joshua from you. And now, I'm saving myself."
Henrick looked as if he meant to say something more, but he never got the chance. Slowly, the small boy with straw-colored hair who had always been helpful faded away. Like mist, his body dispersed until there was nothing left but shallow footprints where he had once stood.
As Henrick vanished from existence, the painting of the door behind him grew into existence. The smears of brown became rough timber wrought in black iron and set with a heavy ring.
"Holy..." Athena said. "Anyone care to explain that bullshit?"
"No time," Wyatt said, bolting for the door and tugging it open. It protested on rusted hinges, but swung open, pushing back the powdery snow and revealing a dark corridor.
Athena and Maia darted in without argument. Wyatt could hear the war cries of the quickly approaching Draygans.
"Ms. Abagail?" Wyatt called back as he stepped into Sanctuary.
Ms. Abagail was still staring down at the crumpled black and white photograph in her hands. At his call, she looked up at Wyatt, and with a smile flung the photograph into the wind, and sprinted inside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
WYATT SLAMMED THE door shut behind them and it shuddered in response. He set his back against it.
"Help me hold it shut," Wyatt shouted.
Athena and Maia were already a few dozen feet down the dark hallway, but they turned around. Ms. Abagail put her hands to the door, leaned into it, and shook her head.
"No point in trying to hold it," she said.
The top corner of the door fell inward, trailing tendrils of smoke from its lanced edge. The Draygans weren't even bothering trying to open the door—they were going to cut it down.
"Come on!" Athena yelled.
Maia's iridescent wings fluttered behind her as she bounced up and down in place. "We must flee," she added.
Wyatt looked to Ms. Abagail. She nodded. And they ran.
Athena and Maia didn't wait for Wyatt to catch up, instead promptly spinning in place and resuming their escape just as Wyatt left the door. He hurried to catch up.
Wyatt heard the door break apart and the snap of fire-braids against stone. "We can't outrun them," he called ahead to Athena and Maia, thankful to see them stop again.
Wyatt's eyes darted around the dimly lit hallway as he reached Athena. "We need to find someplace to hide," he gasped, almost bowling her over. "Keep going," he urged.
Athena twisted about and shoved him back into Ms. Abagail. "Other way," she said.
Ms. Abagail caught Wyatt just as the first Regent walked into the hallway from an unseen room. Bare-chested, it took notice of the fleeing group and shouted behind him.
Wyatt turned around only to be greeted by four Draygans charging from the other end, all fire and pointed teeth. Athena and Maia pressed against Wyatt and Ms. Abagail.
"We're so fucked," Athena said solemnly.
Two more Regents entered the hallway and were walking toward them. They were unarmed, but seeing that was only met with mild relief. Wyatt tore his eyes from the two groups of enemies and sought an escape. The fire from the Draygans lit up the narrow hallway with dancing tongues of orange, but it only served to illuminate their fate.
"Nowhere to go," Wyatt said.
"Then we fight," Athena said.
"It is not a battle we can win," Maia said.
Athena's eyes became slits as she looked from Regents to Draygans and back again. "Yeah, I know."
The trio of Regents blocked the entire width of the hallway, but walked as if they were in no hurry. They know the end result, just as we do, Wyatt thought grimly.
"Maia," Athena said, turning to the spriteling. "I..."
Maia put a hand to Athena's cheek, smiled, and said, "I know."
Only moments remained. The Draygans increased their pace, nearly flying toward them, fire-braids lashing hungrily before them.
Athena crouched and readied her fists. Maia pressed against her back, facing in the opposite direction.
Just before impact, Wyatt dropped to his knees, squeezed his eyes shut, and shouted, "Lucy!"
Athena cursed, Maia shrieked, and something heavy landed near Wyatt with a wet smack. He covered his head, still calling for his magical sister to whisk them away. Something struck Wyatt on the side, sending him to the stone, and another impact sounded right in front of him. The jolt forced his eyes open. Ms. Abagail's face filled his vision. Her eyes were closed and a thin line of blood dripped from her hair-line.
The sight lit Wyatt's fury, and he spun up to his feet, shouting his battle cry. "Wyyyyy-ahhhhhh."
"Oh, now you want to fight," Athena said.
Wyatt looked at her, stunned to see her alive. Maia darted past Wyatt and helped Ms. Abagail stand. Three Regents lay slain on the floor around Wyatt. They all were missing their heads, blackened flesh smoldering at each vicious wound.
The four Draygan warriors stood silently, fire-braids extinguished, hands clasped in front of their waists.
"Uh..." Wyatt managed to say.
Ms. Abagail wiped at her forehead, grimaced, and asked, "Everyone okay?"
"Sure as shit," Athena said.
"Yes," Maia said.
Wyatt made an inarticulate noise and pointed at the Draygans. "You..." He glanced at the slain Regents. "Saved us?"
One of the Draygans nodded.
Wyatt lost his ability to speak again. He had been certain he was going to die, and found his thoughts increasingly evasive now that he was not.
"Why'd you do that?" Athena asked. "Aren't you supposed to kill us?"
"Not that we want you to," Ms. Abagail quickly added. "But..."
"Faith," one of the Draygans said, his voice so eerily similar to Rozen's that it sent chills down Wyatt's spine.
"In..." Athena said.
"Me," Wyatt said.
"No," the Draygan said. "Faith in the Lord Regent's fear."
"Wait," Athena said, stepping toward the Draygan. "Say what? He's afraid of us?"
"I cannot say what has shaken the Lord Regent," the Draygan replied.
"Where is he?" Wyatt asked, hoping to expedite the process.
"The Lord Regent has barricaded himself in the large room not far from here," the Draygan said. "He will allow no other within."
"And Rozen?" Wyatt asked.
The Draygans flinched in unison and looked to the floor. "That is not a name to be spoken." The other warriors at his back looked equally uneasy.
Wyatt bristled. "Her name is Rozen."
The Draygan shook his head and looked around the hallway expectantly. The others shuffled their feet and looked ready to flee at any moment.
"You don't have to be afraid of him," Ms. Abagail said. "The Lord Regent is afraid because he knows we're going to end this. All of it. Somehow."
"Yeah, fuck that guy," Athena added.
The Draygans looked up, but their eyes were still jumpy.
"I know what the Regency did to your families," Wyatt said. The Draygans reacted like he'd slapped them. "I know because Rozen told me. Rozen. Her name is Rozen, and when we've put an end to the Lord Regent, you will know her name. You will remember her name."
The Draygans merely nodded.
Wyatt eyed them, hoping to discern an answer to a question he had yet to form. Did the Draygans truly save them simply because the Lord Regent showed fear? It makes no sense, Wyatt thought. Wyatt knew the Draygans only fought in the Regency army because they had to, with their families held hostage, but still, to see four of them so abruptly change...
"We're on the right path," Wyatt said to his companions.
Ms. Abagail raised an eyebrow as she prodded at the gash along her forehead.
"The Draygans are part of the Realms, and the Realms want us to succeed," Wyatt said.
&nbs
p; "Like it's our destiny?" Athena asked.
Wyatt nodded emphatically.
"Ugh," Athena said. "That's some Hallmark bullshit. Destiny ain't real."
Wyatt gestured at the Draygans. "They could—no—should have killed us. Or captured us, at least."
"Not that we're disappointed that you didn't," Ms. Abagail added.
"They're just lookin' out for themselves," Athena said. "We ain't nothin' special."
Wyatt frowned and crossed his arms.
"But we have the bastard pissin' his pants," Athena added with a wicked grin. "So no need to let up off the gas yet."
Wyatt wanted to argue about the orchestrated nature of all he had experienced in the Realms since he set foot in the Shadow Forest of Hagion. He had never given much thought to destiny before, but now it seemed to be slapping him right in the face at every turn. Too many coincidences. Whether a higher power was at work or not, he couldn't say, but whatever the Realms truly were, he could feel them guiding him.
"Wy," Athena said.
Wyatt twitched, having drifted off into the wonder of it all. Snapping back to attention, he surveyed his friends and said, "Right. Let's go."
They turned to continue on down the hallway, leaving the Draygans to their shame and fear, but the one who had spoken before called out, "Rozen."
Wyatt stopped and spun back to the Draygans. "What did you say?"
The Draygans stood tall and said in unison, "Rozen. Her name is Rozen."
Wyatt nodded. "Yes. Yes it is."
The Draygan at the lead hesitated a moment, but then pointed to his chest. "And my name is Ezric."
Wyatt grinned. "Nice to meet you, Ezric."
"Are you sure this is the only way?" Ms. Abagail asked as she, Wyatt, Athena, and Maia stared up at the sheer side of Sanctuary.
A gust of wind swirled snow around the group and their Draygan followers. Without speaking, they pressed in closer to one another. Wyatt glanced at the quickly falling sun and wondered if Lucy was watching them now. He would never understand what she did or where she went. To travel to the Realms was one thing, but to walk across dreams and memories—some not even your own—was baffling. And how she took her body with her on some trips and left it behind on others didn't make any sense. But he knew if the Draygans' plan worked, he would need every ounce of Lucy's magic to put an end to the Lord Regent and the Bad Man. So he would trust his sister, and not just because he had little choice.
"It is the only way," Ezric said. "Nearly all of the Lord Regent's forces are guarding the entrance to the large room and patrolling nearby. You would need to cut down half a regiment to reach him, and then get through heavily fortified doors."
"What about the other Draygans?" Athena asked. "Could they help, too?"
Wyatt could see distant shapes of the flying warriors circling the valley and higher peaks of the surrounding mountains. Wyatt and his small contingent stood half-buried in a snowdrift, a stone's throw from the door Henrick had shown them.
"In time, perhaps," Ezric said. "But if you wish to save Rozen, that is not something we have. Do not fret; we can get you in before our brethren know we have disobeyed."
"The Draygans have placed their faith in us," Maia said sweetly. "We should have faith in them as well."
"Easy for you to say," Athena said. "You have wings."
Maia wrapped an arm around Athena and rested her grass-clad head on the teen's chest. "I will catch you should you fall."
"Because that's never gone wrong before," Athena quipped.
"We have to do this," Wyatt said.
Athena nodded. "I know."
Wyatt looked at Ms. Abagail. Little time had passed since she'd faced down her past. Pain was etched into her face, digging deep lines from the corners of her eyes. The hair at her temple was matted with drying blood. Wyatt couldn't remember the last time any of them had slept or eaten. Time had become a quickly shifting miasma. But as Wyatt caught her eye, Ms. Abagail smiled in a way he had never seen before.
"That's the first time I've seen you smile," Wyatt said.
"That's not true," Ms. Abagail said.
"I mean, really smile," he clarified.
She thought a moment, then said, "Maybe it is."
"Yeah, hate to break this precious moment," Athena chimed in. "But we got asses in need of my boot. And you heard Ezric. No time. We doin' this or what?"
Wyatt broke his stare, looked at Ezric, and nodded.
"To battle," Ezric said, nodding to the other Draygans. "Fly fierce and true. Blaze bright and pure."
The Draygans each grabbed hold of Wyatt, Athena, and Ms. Abagail, and with beautiful power, took to the sky. Maia giggled shrilly and soared alongside the warriors and their wingless cargo. The Draygans didn't seem hampered by their charges and shot upward with surreal speed. The gray stone of Sanctuary became a blur, and the wind cut like razors. But none of it mattered. Wyatt still didn't know if he was going to right a world of wrongs or to meet his doom. But that didn't matter, either. One way or another, he was going to an end.
With powerful strokes of their wings, the Draygans shot out into the open sky, twirling and circling at speed. Wyatt knew the Draygans were taking such a circuitous route at such a high speed in order to disguise both their destination and the humans pressed against their chests. Wyatt squeezed his eyes shut on the third roll, spin, and sudden drop. His stomach turned with every movement and made it difficult for him to focus on the task at hand. A task he didn't have a plan for.
"It is time," Ezric said in his ear.
Wyatt forced his eyes open and squinted against the roar of winter wind. Below, Sanctuary looked far less impressive than it did from the ground. He glanced at Athena, hanging from the Draygan on his right. Her mouth was a firm line, her brow deep enough to obscure her eyes. Maia darted among the Draygans, rolling with ease. She seemed nearly as joyful as she often was.
"We're ready," Wyatt said.
The Draygans dropped in unison, pulling their wings in to fall like stones. Sanctuary grew before Wyatt's eyes, coming at them fast. The Observatory raced by in a blur as Ezric rolled to the side, unfurled his wings, and quickly shifted from a vertical free-fall to a horizontal streak, aimed for a bank of colored windows.
At the last possible moment, the Draygans wrapped their wings around themselves and plunged through the window, transforming it into glass rain. Once they were through, the Draygans twisted into another fall, but quickly stretched out their wings again. Wyatt struck the floor and rolled away from Ezric, disoriented but alive.
The others landed in unison, striking the stone floor and releasing their passengers. Wyatt gathered himself, eyes searching for the Lord Regent, trying his best to regain his balance and work warmth back into his muscles.
Ezric and the other Draygans pressed in at his sides and snapped their braids into their hands. They caught fire and spit heat.
A figure sat at the head of one of the long tables in Sanctuary's dining hall—the same room Wyatt had inadvertently fallen into from Greenwood. Right back where we started, he thought. But with Draygans on our side now.
Onyx plate armor clanked as the Lord Regent leaned forward, resting four elbows on the table, his polished armor caught in a beam of sunlight burning in from the shattered window. His hair shone like gold as it hung loose from his crowned head. His twisted smile glimmered. Two swords were strapped to his back, but what he held in his hands nearly brought Wyatt to his knees.
Lengths of knotted rope ran from the Lord Regent's lower hands to the wrists of Rozen, lashed to the chair at his right with more rope. Her head hung to one side, and Wyatt knew at a glance that her bonds were the only thing keeping her upright.
"Rozen," Wyatt said, afraid to yell and startle the battered Draygan. Ezric hissed.
Rozen's head twisted slowly and she squinted at Wyatt. Her lips moved, but Wyatt couldn't make out any sound. He imagined she was trying to call his name.
"I think she's blaming you for her current pred
icament," the Lord Regent said casually. He tugged on one of the ropes and Rozen's hands shot up in an unnatural wave. The Lord Regent laughed and let her hand fall back to the table.
"No," Athena said from just behind Wyatt. He didn't dare turn from Rozen until Athena's cry turned into an ear-splitting chant. "No, no, no, no..."
"Athena!" Maia shouted. The spriteling wrapped an arm around her, and Ms. Abagail moved to her other side.
Athena's eyes were wild as she thrashed her body erratically from side to side, clutching her head with both hands. "NO NO NO NO NO NO!"
Athena collapsed on the ground, curled into a ball, whimpered twice, and then fell as still and silent as a corpse.
"What's wrong with her?" Wyatt asked.
Maia knelt at Athena's side and pressed a hand to her back. Maia shook her head. "It is like before. When we were imprisoned. She was scared. But now...she feels nothing."
The Lord Regent's coarse laugh broke the fragile moment. The Draygans flinched at his side, visibly shaken, but Wyatt stepped forward, muscles quivering.
"Wyatt," Rozen said, this time loud enough to hear.
Wyatt bolted forward, but the Lord Regent drew his swords before Wyatt could close the gap, pointing one at Wyatt and the other at Rozen.
"Now, now, let's not be hasty," the Lord Regent said.
"Let her go," Wyatt said.
"Is that why you've come?" the Lord Regent asked with a sneer. "To save the Lady Rozen?"
"We're here to end this," Wyatt said. "To end you."
"Oh?" The Lord Regent asked. "I see you've brought help this time. Or at least, further lives to sacrifice."
Wyatt glanced quickly at his companions. The Draygans seemed poised to fight, but Ms. Abagail and Maia were both kneeling at Athena's side, hands pressed to her back. Athena was curled so tightly upon herself that Wyatt could see little more than her plume of red hair. It wasn't like her to shirk a confrontation, but there was little time to dwell on it.
He turned back to the Lord Regent, unwilling to show any weakness. "You should have done the same," he taunted.
The Lord Regent smiled. "And who's to say I didn't?"
Something wrapped itself around Wyatt's shoulder, digging frozen fingers into the crook of his shoulder and breathing frost on the back of his neck. A wash of cold air hit Wyatt's ear. "Hello, Wyatt," the Bad Man's voice said.
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