“Petra did teach me how to fly,” Virgie said proudly.
Blair smiled and high fived Virgie, but my temporary happiness fled as my body quaked. Petra had almost killed Virgie and had succeeded in killing Olwen.
“We go to the tundra now.” I wanted to finish this.
No one argued, but a glance at Olwen’s motionless form made me pause. “Watch her,” I said to Caleb and Nathan, who stood next to Petra. I turned to Blair, Virgie, and Peony. “We need to bury Olwen.” I would not disrespect Olwen by simply letting him lie in the dust.
Forcing my anger down, I allowed my other emotions to well up again. Blair and Peony stood by my side, and I used my ice to soften the ground. It was a slow process as Blair then melted the ice I summoned. This region was cold, too cold to allow it to melt on its own. A couple of times, I swayed thanks to our proximity to the tundra and its corrupt Winter magic. But Peony caught me and held me up from behind as I worked. Applying the Shield spray helped too.
Blair, Peony, and Virgie helped me dig through the soft ground with their bare hands. Once the hole was big enough, we placed my father into it, then pushed the earth on top. I said a silent prayer to whoever ruled over the souls, hoping my father would finally find peace. Then I rose, numb inside.
We had to get back to work. I could have emotions, yes, but I could not let them get in the way of escaping the wastelands. I had to be the queen the Winter Court needed.
Squaring my shoulders, I rejoined Caleb and Nathan. Even though Nathan was not a mentalist like Virgie, as the High Commander, he did possess compulsion and a natural air of leadership. By his furrowed brows I guessed he was using some now while Caleb’s vines were still tightly wound around Petra’s torso, pressing her hands flatly against her.
“Can you shackle her?” I asked. “I don’t want her to slow us down. She might need her legs and wings.”
Caleb nodded, and the vines around Petra’s torso flew to reposition themselves, several binding her hands behind her back, while others bound her feet, leaving plenty of space in between so she could walk. Petra remained silent, her expression neutral. That scared me more than any display of anger could’ve.
“I’ll help keep her under control,” Peony said.
“Thank you.” Without another word, we started the final trek to the tundra, Blair by my side. Peony kept close to Caleb, who dragged Petra behind him. Nathan was at the rear, Virgie beside him.
I tried not to worry about the wastelands rejecting my attempt to combine my magic with Petra’s after her stunt. The darkness in the sky had cleared, giving me hope that the Ancient Magic was no longer with us.
If Petra had stolen my freedom, my possibility to be reunited with Thorsten, there would be no end to my rage. I couldn’t help but feel envious of Virgie and Peony. Yes, they had to apply the Shield every few hours and had no crown to protect them, but at least they had their soulmates with them.
Also, my crown was becoming less and less useful the closer we got to the tundra. The ice flowing down through me failed to completely get rid of the shaking in my knees and the ringing in my ears. My headache intensified with the passage of time. What if Petra killed me immediately after our powers united? What if she managed to slip through a portal, leaving us all behind? I shook my head. I couldn’t think like that. I had to be strong. Olwen’s face flashed in my mind. He had been brave to the very end. I would be too. I was a warrior.
My breath curled in front of me. Moisture. Despite the cold of the mountain pass, the first real moisture I’d felt in the wastelands washed over me as Blair and I rounded a huge curve around the next mountain. Blair looked at me, raising her eyebrow.
“Is this—” she started.
We rounded the next curve, and the world opened up.
I took a step and gasped, not just because it felt like I had stepped into a different dimension, but because of the sight in front of me. The temperature was barely below freezing, but there were several ice blocks scattered on the bare ground and given how all my muscles trembled, like something was sucking the power straight out of my crown before it could fill me, I knew we’d reached the corrupt tundra.
“Whoa,” Caleb said as we continued over the ice and compressed snow, which thickened and covered more and more of the flat terrain. A few boulders rose from the white landscape ahead, but nothing stirred. A few thin, wispy clouds drifted. The compressed snow and ice sounded like stone under my feet as I stepped. The air got colder and colder, going from chilly to stinging the farther we progressed.
“It’s freezing here.” Blair’s teeth chattered.
I stopped walking and pivoted around, motioning for the others to make a circle. Blair stood to my left, followed by Caleb, Peony, Virgie, and Nathan. Caleb shoved Petra into the center of the circle, and I stepped forward too.
Are you ready? Caleb asked telepathically.
Yes, I replied. We’re here. I can feel it. The buzzing in my head seemed to have reached a peak and the veins in my temples throbbed. It hurt for me to stand here. If we didn’t complete this now, I wouldn’t last too long.
Petra snorted. “I can hear you. You might as well speak out loud.”
Caleb frowned, but I wasn’t surprised. Petra was three hundred years old and from what I’d seen, her power rivaled that of her father’s. It made sense she could hear our telepathic exchange.
“Are we doing this, or do you want to rot away here?” I asked with venom in my voice.
Petra smiled sweetly. “Can you really blame me for trying to leave by myself?” Then she smiled. “I’ll work with you, Onyx Vinter, but only because of our promised duel in the Summer Court. Me killing you will finally prove to Father that I’m ready for the throne.”
“Just as cocky as your brother, Preston.” I smiled sweetly, and Petra’s green eyes turned to slits. But even as I maintained my strong face, my knees shook, and I felt the pull of my vow. I swallowed hard. I could be dead in minutes, yet there was no going back now.
“Unbind me.” Petra glared at Caleb.
Caleb waved his hands, allowing his vine handcuffs to fall from Petra’s wrists. He removed his crown, hesitated, then placed it on Petra’s head. From the way she beamed, I knew this was another huge power boost for her. I hated giving her the advantage, but it was necessary if our magic were to be equal. Caleb remained at the ready with Peony, in case he needed to subdue Petra. Virgie’s face too was screwed up with concentration. I had no doubt she was forcing Petra to remember her vow and be cooperative.
I extended my arm, and Petra shoved her palm against mine, green eyes hard with concentration. Hot, vicious magic slammed into me. I shoved back with all of my ice.
Vines sprouted from her fingers, entangling our hands, gluing them together. Her vines bit into my skin and my ice encased them, stopping any poison she might send my way. She smiled. Vicious Venus flytraps and other dangerous blooms sprouted from her fingers, encasing our bodies, drawing us closer together. Everything that sprouted from Petra, I encased in a layer of sparkling ice. My heart pounded, and I gritted my teeth.
The frosty vines we created spread below us on the ground, forming a circle underneath our feet, separating us from the others. Cocooned, I willed the metamorphosis. My crown flooded me with magic, drawing on the Winter lands, and yet, my knees trembled with exhaustion. Petra set her jaw, her arms shaking. At least this was exhausting her too.
“Unite!” I screamed, and sent out a wave of my power in all directions. Blue and silver light exploded forth.
“Unite!” Petra echoed, and a golden-green glow exploded from her palm.
The two magics dove for each other, tearing into each other. The world turned into swirling color, ice, and heat. Shadows danced over Petra’s face, giving her the look of a leering skull.
Breathing became harder as my lungs closed up, my heart hammered, and my muscles trembled and twitched. It was too much. I couldn’t endure it much longer. My silver-blue magic clashed into Petra’s golden-green ener
gy, and then it felt as if thunder struck me. A scream reverberated through me as both Petra and I shot into the air. Unlike when I’d combined my power with Peony, this time, I knew to flap my wings vigorously, and Petra did the same. The geyser of swirling power shot us high up into the air, then released us.
“Onyx!” Blair shouted.
I flapped my wings harder, regained control, and straightened myself out. The buzzing in my head remained for a moment, then slowly abated. Strength flowed back into my body from my crown, a trickle at first, but then it slowly increased. About a hundred feet away, on the other side of the magic geyser, Petra flapped her golden wings, drifting downward, eyes staring death at me.
We sailed to the ground, flapping our wings so that we didn’t crash into the earth. I took a breath, getting my bearings. The geyser faded. The world felt different. The low, heavy atmosphere grew lighter somehow and the air less thick. It felt more like...home. I had been in the wastelands for so long that I had forgotten what a living world felt like.
“Look!” Peony shouted.
My mouth fell open as I took in the ground below. Our magic had vanished. The corrupt tundra ice was melting, turning to water and sinking into the darkening earth.
Once melted, grass began sprouting, trees shot into the sky, and flowers upon flowers bloomed in all colors of the rainbow. The world filled with the creaking and whispering of plants. Blair squealed and Peony laughed. Nathan, Virgie, and Caleb whirled, inhaling the floral scents
I felt as if I was watching a time lapse.
I collapsed onto the soft, springy grass. Resting on my back, I watched as the sky morphed from a lifeless tan to a brilliant, deep blue. The semi-warm air of spring washed over me, yet it carried the hint of a winter chill.
We had rejoined the faelands, and these were lands of pure spring. A perfect mixture of Summer and Winter.
25
Onyx
A feeling of floating overcame me. We had done it. Spring had arrived. Tiny birds flew past us, chirping happily as they darted from tree to tree.
Virgie kneeled next to me. “Onyx, are you all right?”
I nodded, not having energy for words.
Caleb stood behind her. “You’ve done it. You pulled the wastelands out of the hell dimension they were in. You healed them and united the faelands. We’re back home. I think we’re somewhere between the borderlands and Summer realm. Or maybe this place has replaced the borderlands.” Then his brow creased, and his eyes narrowed as he looked over me and at the horizon. “They’re coming.”
I turned my head and followed his gaze. A wind blew from the south, and a flapping of wings could be heard in the distance, from somewhere within a range of snow-capped mountains. The Pegasi. They’d bring King Peter and his men to us. Now that the wastelands were once again part of the faelands, he sensed the location of his crown. I turned to Caleb, who nodded resolutely.
“I’ll take on my father,” he said.
A vine shoved him aside, and a grinning Petra appeared. “All in good time, little brother. First, Onyx and I duel.” A red vine with foaming bulbs shot for me, and I rolled away just in time and pushed into a crouch. The vine snapped at the ground.
I breathed in, forcing my crown to supply me with magic to cast away the exhaustion. My ice obeyed, flowing into my body. The magic was stronger now that we were out of the wastelands. I might be able to do this.
We had healed Mother Nature, but the fight was far from over.
Caleb shot a vine at Petra, and immediately a pain stabbed through my ribcage.
“Don’t,” I yelled. “I vowed to fight her alone. Everyone, stand back.”
Petra smirked. “That’s right. Let’s see how much the great Onyx Vinter can do when she’s all alone. I told you, child, not to chew off more than you can handle.”
I pushed a strand of purple hair from my face. “Yeah, yeah, you’re three-hundred years old and all that. I got that the first time around.” I shot a net of ice at Petra. Her eyes widened a fraction, but then her Venus flytraps appeared and chomped through my ice.
My senses sharpened. I sent an ice dagger for her head, but her crown decimated it before it struck, breaking it into a million fragments. Okay, Petra had a lot of magic up her sleeve I didn’t know about.
Silence fell. The wind continued to carry the sound of wings towards us. The others stood back, helpless to assist.
Petra circled me. “Show me what you’ve got, Onyx, Queen of the Winter Court.”
She was trying to goad me into making the first move. I took another breath, circling as well, not daring to take my gaze from Petra. What if our fighting undid everything? Killed this part of the faelands again?
But I couldn’t worry about that now.
Petra lifted her hands and shot more vines.
I countered with ice and frost, withering them on the ground, in the air, from around my ankles.
“All you can do is defend?” she asked.
I stepped over some dead vines. We were moving slowly. My knees shook after healing the wastelands. I had used a lot of energy. Petra was biding her time.
She shot two vines along the ground at my ankles.
My ice killed them, yet the exertion left me panting. Sweat ran down my body. Despite being out of the wastelands, I felt weak. Petra was exhausting me. I had to take her off guard, but how? I couldn’t let the others distract her or I’d violate the oath and suffer for it. So what did that leave? I could charge her, but I doubted a fist fight would work out for me.
Then it came to me.
My best weapon could be Petra’s own magic.
“Getting tired?” When her vines shot for me, a thousand monsters with sharp teeth and pink tongues, I lassoed them with my frost, curling them, killing them in a pattern that threw them back at Petra, straight for her neck.
She screeched as her darlings chomped down into her flesh, aimless, not caring that they were hurting their creator. I released an ice dagger, taking the distraction. My blade shot straight for her chest and impaled her, slowly driving into her flesh as her magic tried to resist. Petra gagged in shock, blood spurting from the front of her faded yellow gown.
“Queen Onyx Vinter of the Winter Court, if you kill Princess Petra of the Summer Court, you will suffer the consequences,” an ancient voice boomed in my head. The Grand Librarian. The spirit or essence who had helped us escape the wastelands. He was still here, still connected to me.
I stopped my icicle, not daring to shove it further into Petra’s chest. Slowly, I let it fall to the grass.
“If I don’t kill her, she’ll kill me,” I replied in what I hoped to be a respectful tone.
“She won’t. Make her concede defeat and find a way to keep her alive.”
Petra collapsed to her knees, vines falling, neck swelling with poison. A few of the Venus flytraps remained stuck to her flesh. She gasped for air, flesh purple, chest still bleeding. The ground under her knees died, grass turning yellow, and I knew the wastelands were about to make a comeback. Before I could let the guilt creep in, I shouted, “The duel is over. Petra, concede defeat. Caleb, get the crown!” I looked to Virgie. I needed her help as Petra would rather die than suffer humiliation.
Caleb shot his vines at Petra’s head and retrieved the crown. She hissed at him but didn’t do anything as her own creations continued to eat her flesh. “Let me handle this,” Caleb said calmly. “She’s my sister.” I let my icicle melt as Caleb’s vines wrapped around Petra tightly.
Pain rippled through me as I allowed Caleb to interfere. I was breaking my vow to duel Petra alone and was now paying the price. But enduring the pounding in my head was much better than battling Petra and damaging the faelands.
As Caleb’s vines squeezed Petra, one by one, her darlings retracted, falling and dying. Blood dripped from her neck, thick like crimson honey. The dead grass slowly spread out from under her, forming a ring of nothingness.
Virgie stepped forward and nodded at me. The time had com
e.
“Petra, concede defeat,” I shouted as Virgie stared at the back of Petra’s head, working her magic.
“Never!” Petra shouted.
Virgie balled her fists and stared Petra down. Slowly, Petra’s eyes glazed over as Caleb and I waited. “Concede defeat, and you will have a chance to see your father again.”
Petra took several deep, enraged breaths as Virgie continued to work on her. “I...I never.” Petra’s face contorted. “I yield.”
A dead weight fell off my shoulders. “The vow is done. Thank you, Caleb. Help her heal. We can’t let our courts tear apart again.”
Virgie released her hold, backing away, and Petra sagged with humiliation as the wounds on her neck closed. With them, the dead spot underneath her turned to new grass. I let out a breath. We had avoided destruction.
Caleb tensed. I followed his gaze. Thirteen riders on thirteen white Pegasi approached, bright in the sun. Given how bright their golden-white wings were, the same color of Nathan’s, the riders were fae generals or nobles.
The rider at the front of the V-formation was King Peter, crownless, but formidable. His golden wings carried a sickly green tinge.
“Onyx, stand aside. You accomplished your mission, but this is about the Summer Court. I’ll handle my father,” Caleb said with determination.
I nodded. “I’ll guard Petra.” Then I stepped back as Nathan, Virgie, and Peony stepped toward Caleb. They would determine the fate of the Summer Court.
26
Virgie
I stood strong beside Nathan as the twelve Pegasi descended from the sky with their fae riders. I let my mental influence fall away from Petra. Her being poisoned had allowed me to break her armor. But King Peter? How would I manage?
I had to. There was no other choice.
Nathan slipped his hand into mine and squeezed. “We face this together.”
I returned his squeeze. “For now and always.”
The Nocturnal and Fae Prison Academy Boxset [A Complete Paranormal and Fantasy Series Boxset] Page 117
