by Ardis, Priya
My jaw dropped. I saw a similar stunned expression go through the rest of the crowd.
Leonidas found his voice. “No, you are our leader. The line of Lelex cannot get us through this dark time. If we make it, it will be because of you.” He thrust the crown back at Vane. “You are a mermaid, Vane. You always will be. Even before you were the Fisher King, you won your throne.”
The mermaids cheered. Several raised their swords high. Metal clanged in the air.
For the second time in my life, I saw Vane completely flummoxed. The first had been at Buckingham Palace when I asked him to kiss me.
“Now, if you do not mind, Majesty.” Leonidas’s gaze fixed on Leonora. “I would really like to be married.”
After that, the wedding ceremony was brief. Pretty much a do you/don’t you affair. I doubted the happy couple could have said much more. Leonidas’s ‘I do’ had come out broken. Instead of rice, dew drops pelted us as they kissed.
I cried.
Beside me, so did Gia.
Grey pulled us both close.
And that small hope, the one I thought snuffed out, flickered once more.
***
He found me beside the water. On the grounds of the park, past a square plot of dirt behind the ruined abbey marked as the grave of King Arthur, a small pond celebrated life. The spot hosted ducks, fish, and a canopy of weeping trees. I stood under one tree and watched the moonlight dance over serene ripples. A mother duck shepherded her ducklings into the quiet water.
He came up to the tree. He raised his hands and grabbed a low branch. He leaned on it, and I watched the water reflect off his long torso, its well-defined muscles honed by an unrelenting life. He watched me.
“That was an interesting twist to the ceremony.”
A brow arched. “Did you approve?”
I titled my head. “Do you care?”
“I do.” He sounded surprised. “Think there may be hope for me after all?”
I played with the drooping branch of a weeping tree, tracing its ribs as if I were tracing his. “You make it hard, but I think so.”
Green fire lit his eyes. “You like hard.”
I smiled. “Do you know me so well?”
He replied seriously, “I will never know you well enough. I will always want more.”
The words full of yearning melted every doubt inside me. I blinked back tears at the intensity of the emotion. For the night stretched deep but dawn lay waiting to pounce. I peered through the branch swaying between us, a seductive veil. I asked softly, “How can we survive this, Vane?”
Because I don’t think I can live without you.
Watchful eyes fixed on mine and read the unspoken thought. He sucked in a breath, yet stayed entirely still. “There’s another story I know. This one doesn’t have any swords or visions. This one is about a boy who found a girl during a terrible time.”
“How did it turn out?”
“I don’t know, but I do know the boy doesn’t regret it. Not a minute. No matter how it turns out. Because he’s been waiting for this girl from the time she was born, and if it takes another thousand years to meet her again, he’d wait again. Whatever it takes.”
Tears, which had gathered, spilled from my eyes.
Finally, he walked closer, coming behind me, and wrapped his arms around my chest. We watched the ducklings float in circles in the water.
A sight in the distance caught my eye. A triangular terraced hill, a short distance from town. The tower on top of the hill could be seen for a hundred miles. The ruined church seemed to be a beacon promising hope, but giving no real answers.
“Glastonbury Tor. Two thousand years ago, the sea washed right up to the hills. The tower on the hill is called St. Michael's tower, the warrior saint who beat back the darkness. Some say that Avalon is where sea met the land and became the meeting place of the dead, the point at which we pass to another level of existence.”
Lips grazed my ear. “Another apple can’t help us with the evacuation.”
I bit my lip. I looked up at the airless sky.
I hadn’t told Vane about Matt’s vision, mostly because I’d been in denial. The thought of losing him was a physical ache. The thought of the horror coming up… and I didn’t know how to stop either.
My hands tightened on his. I brought them up to my lips.
A cell buzzed in Vane’s pocket. He ignored it. It buzzed more insistently the second time.
“It could be important.”
Vane took the phone out. “It’s Leonidas. He says to come to the front.”
I let go of him. “I’ll be here.”
Vane turned me in his arms. Piercing eyes saw right through me. Need rose in them. He said, “Tell me you choose me.”
I met his eyes. They were tinged with green, but they didn’t scare me. Maybe they should have. The monster had me now, but I’d already laid down my weapons.
“You know I do,” I said.
In the moonlight, the monster smiled. “Good. I’ll be back.”
Vane hurried off.
I turned back to watch the ducklings for a little while longer.
Matt stepped out of the shadows. The lion tread softly down the slope.
I raised a brow at him. “Crashing the wedding?”
“Am I to assume that Vane’s gained permission to use the park?”
I shrugged. “A wedding will bring us good luck. We need it.”
“I take it you didn’t find the apple in London.”
I shook my head. “You knew I left?”
Matt’s eyes flickered over the Dragon’s Eye. “I believe him. He would wait forever to meet you again.” He added, “So would I.”
A sudden chill made the hairs on my arms stand up. I rubbed my arms. Resignation, chilling and merciless in its inhumanity, hooded Matt’s eyes.
He asked, “Do you trust me?”
I took a step toward him. “Of course.”
“I’ve found the one thing he can’t win against.” Matt’s eyes flashed with pain. “I’m sorry, Ryan.”
I didn’t see the sleep spell coming until it hit me.
Matt caught me before I fell to the ground. He whispered in my ear, “He loves you, Ryan, and that might just save us.”
CHAPTER 21 – BEGINNINGS
CHAPTER 21
BEGINNINGS
I woke to the middle of the battle.
The sky sparkled in muted hues of red, purple, and pink. I only saw it through tinted glass. My head pounding, I jerked up from where I’d been slumped asleep. Instead of a gown, I wore a thin jacket and black cargos and found myself stuffed among a group of people inside a moving truck. They were all Regulars from what I could tell. Men, women, and children, but not complete families. Seeing their torn faces left me sucker-punched once again.
We sat in one of those trucks transporting prisoners. It had metal walls and a bench seat. From my vantage point, tinted windows showed the sky outside and nothing else. A thick metal wall separated the back from the drivers. A porthole allowed them to observe us in the back.
Bodies packed every inch of space, standing room only. Cold artificial air blasted us, probably to keep us from rioting. I doubted anyone would dare. After all, we knew we were the lucky ones.
Disoriented and pissed, I stood up on the bench seat and peered outside. Hordes and hordes of black trucks roared along the road. Over one gently rolling hill, Stonehenge came into view. At first, I only saw the wide plain and the lonely stones as I’d seen countless times on TV. I’d been around wizards long enough to recognize magic. I squinted my eyes and made out a faint barrier of bluish magic. Merlin’s magic. A shield blanketed an enormous umbrella so that the casual observer wouldn’t see the parking lot of mismatched vehicles surrounding the stone circle in a wide radius.
Besides the black trucks, there were double-decker buses, hummers, and even army helicopters. This had been planned well to maximize every bit of space the gate offered. I turned back to Stonehenge. It had th
ree main circles. The outermost circle was about three hundred twenty feet in diameter. The ground around it had been cut into a ditch.
Much smaller than the outer circle, the inner circle contained two rings. The inner circle was the famous picturesque view of the monument. The bigger ring of the inner circle reminded one of giants playing blocks. The ring of sarsen and bluestones, vertical slabs topped by horizontal ones, although broken, stood like giants. The trilithons ranged from thirteen to twenty-four feet in height. The inner most ring was made up of three trilithons.
An altar of unusual green sandstone sat at the center of the monument. It faced the grand trilithon of the inner ring and reached sixteen feet long. Outside the circles, a heel stone sat far out past the outermost circle. The layout of the monument reminded me of a pocket watch where the heel stone would be the stopper at the top.
The mermaids had straddled a giant trilithon directly over the heel stone. The new trilithon did look like a square version of the enormously huge Arc De Triomphe. It would be able to accommodate the organized onslaught of vehicles. It stood about a hundred times bigger than the one he’d built in Boston, A chill went through me. Vane had barely managed to open the small one. I had no idea how he planned to harness the Fury.
I reached for the Dragon’s Eye. It was gone.
Matt had broken through Vane’s lock. I was completely on my own.
I glanced down at my wrist. A faint scar marred it. Matt had taken my blood. He drained me like I was nothing more than a blood bag. Apparently, I wasn’t needed for anything else.
I had no idea why Matt put me in the truck.
Was he hoping to avoid the vision or fulfill it?
We reached the fence just outside the famous monument. Stonehenge was generally shut off from the public. It made it easier for the barricade the soldiers and wizards had erected. Cars and people jammed the fence. I saw sparks of magic fly when an unauthorized car tried to ram the barricade. It was all going well until the earth started rumbling.
Around me, everyone let out a shocked cry and started pointing to another window. I fought my way past them to look and saw a second sun, a circle of flaming red, poke through the sky.
It was the first sign of the end.
I had to get out of this truck. I crossed to the closed door and tried the handle. As I suspected, it was locked from the outside. He’d hidden me well. Among the numerous black trucks, I could be in any one. I looked for help.
I found the three Drust children. It took me less than a minute to enlist them (knowing their names convinced them). They, in turn, persuaded a few to help me kick down the door. Never underestimate Regulars.
I jumped down from the back of the moving truck. The door slammed shut behind me as the evacuees huddled back inside. I started running. More sparks flew across the sky. A rainbow of colors swirled as the first soft volley came from the sun.
The Fury was coming.
A soldier spotted me among the slow-moving trucks. He gave a warning shot. I ducked and turned. His shocked face never anticipated my tackle. I knocked him down and grabbed the gun. Then I ran. The soldier didn’t stay down. I heard him radio for help, but didn’t stop. I kept running through toward the inner rings. The number one rule in Vane’s training book was that slowing down equaled dead and gone.
The closer I got, the number of soldiers increased. Luckily, so did the number of vehicles. They shot at me but were limited in their range. The soldiers were careful knowing the precious cargo the trucks carried, several with their own family members—the bargain they’d made to save them. With a few shots (my aim was fairly good with a gun), I managed to dodge the soldiers by rolling under a few moving trucks. Dirt, grass, and scrapes covered me.
I saw the famous ring of the Stonehenge. I ran straight into a wall of muscle and a gun aimed straight at my head. I slumped in defeat. The back of a truck burst open. The soldier’s eyes flickered. I knocked the gun from him. Grey and Colin jumped out.
I’d never been so glad to see anyone. Grey carried a limp Gia over his shoulders.
“Ryan, what’s going on?” Grey yelled. “Emrys drugged us. We just woke up.”
More gargoyles jumped down from the truck.
“I don’t know. Let’s find out.” Although we had no weapons, it was a lot easier to get to the front using the gargoyles as shields. Thanks to their super-healing abilities, shots didn’t faze them too much. Once Gia woke up, she started throwing spells and mowed the path.
When we reached the inner circle, I signaled Grey to approach silently. I had a clear view from the altar stone to the mammoth trilithon at the heel stone. Excalibur lay embedded in the green sandstone slab.
In front of it, the golden apple lay silently on the stone.
Blood covered it. My blood.
At the center of the chaos, two colossuses faced each other. Green magic swirled around Vane. Blue colored Matt. It was the same fight. Fifteen hundred years ago they battled over one kingdom. Today, over the world.
The mermaids stood quietly behind Vane, their swords at their feet. Soldiers surrounded them. I spotted Robin near a military man with an iPad for a clipboard. Matt paced, glancing at the apple. Everyone watched the metallic apple, waiting for it to signal the time.
And the evacuation would begin. At the end of all things.
Vane watched Matt. “I’m not opening anything until I know she’s safe.”
Matt dangled the Dragon’s Eye in front of Vane. “You’ll have to take my word for it.”
“We need her here.”
Matt gestured at Robin. “I can get her if we do.”
“We had a plan,” Vane said.
“This way, I know you’ll stick to it.” He looked up at the sky. More light streaked it. The wind rose and kicked dirt around the plain. “Open the gates and everyone, including her, will go through.”
Vane let out a small laugh. “Still don’t trust me, Merlin?”
Merlin stopped pacing. “I won’t take the risk. I’ve seen it—”
“You can’t hide behind visions forever. This has always been about me leaving. I don’t know why I didn’t see it. Maybe because I never believed you could care that much. I had no choice, Merlin. The Lady picked my destiny.”
“She separated us for a reason,” Matt said.
“Because you were meant to kill me,” Vane said. “You don’t need to lie anymore, Merlin. It finally makes sense.”
Matt stilled. “What do you mean?”
“I keep having to remind everyone that I’m a genius,” Vane said lightly. “The reports on the apple hypothesize that the exotic particles inside will keep the gates’ wormhole open and large enough to accommodate everyone. By opening them at the same time, we will be able to bind all the gates into one bridge. However, to go off-planet, as we think the apple will take us, requires a tremendous amount of energy. We must use the power of the Fury, and the monster must harness it.”
“The Lady chose me for this,” Matt whispered.
Chose him to die.
Behind the stones, I glanced up at the burning sky. The apple wobbled.
The time was close.
Vane smiled. “She chose you, but failed to take one thing into account. I never stopped being your brother. Ryan wouldn’t let me. It’s amazing what we will do for those we love. What we will sacrifice.”
Matt’s eyes hardened. “It’s why I’m keeping Ryan in the truck. If you want to save her, you’ll have to save everyone. No matter what it takes.”
“I’m not talking about Ryan. I didn’t come here to evacuate, Merlin. I took the monster because I knew whoever took it would die today. I took it so you wouldn’t have to. For you. For her. She was meant for you.”
Matt gaped at him.
“I am sorry, brother. You will have to be alone once more.” Vane drew the Kronos Eye out of his pocket.
“No!” I did the one thing I could. I used the gun I’d taken and shot Vane’s hand. The bullet grazed his hand. The Kronos Ey
e rolled on the ground.
Matt grabbed it. He shot his brother with a spell. “I’m sorry too, Vane.”
Vane went flying back. He went down easily. He coughed blood on the ground.
Everything inside me stilled. I stilled.
He was dying. Blood jammed the chambers of my heart, but couldn’t flow. My body refused to pump it.
“Ryan,” Vane croaked.
Blood forced its way through my arteries. I ran from my hiding place. More soldiers tried to tackle me. Grey and Gia fought them off, but they kept coming. I dodged past them to reach Vane. I dropped down next to him, my cheeks wet and dirty.
Matt held the Kronos Eye in his palm. “The water’s been drained from the crystal.”
“I took it earlier.” Vane laughed weakly. “Once the monster gathers enough energy, I’ll let go. Then, you can take the monster without flaming out.”
On the slab, the apple stirred.
“It’s time, Merlin,” Vane said. “Just like you wanted.”
Matt knelt down on his brother’s other side. “This was never what I wanted.”
It was the vision. The sky burned above us, displaying a magnificent and deadly aurora. Wind swirled through the stone circle.
We sat on either side as Vane closed his eyes.
The apple rose fully in the air.
Matt picked up the trident from Vane’s side. He leaned on it. I snatched the Dragon’s Eye dangling from Matt’s pocket.
“Vane,” I sobbed. “Why didn’t you tell me your plan?”
“Ryan.” The word, my name, held a wealth of longing. Then, it sharpened. Vane’s voice reverberated in my head. “Tell me you trust me, Ryan.”
“You know I do.” I said.
“Then, look for the answer. Inside Merlin. Look now. You’re the only one he’ll let in. His defenses are low. He won’t stop you. And remember, no matter what—you can bear it.”
I looked. Using the Dragon’s Eye, I walked into Matt’s mind. I had no idea what I was looking for, only that I desperately sought it. A vision of a cottage stood before me. It was the same cottage as Vane’s vision. Only this time, I saw it through Matt’s eyes. I saw the Lady. She had green eyes. She smiled at me. She sat at the table with a knife and a potato.
