by Linsey Hall
Except it’d been so long. Ages that I’d been in the darkness, eating whatever gruel was shoved through the slot in the door. And my parents were nowhere to be seen. My strong, brave parents.
They weren’t coming.
Since I’d been put in this room, I hadn’t seen a single soul besides the guard who occasionally pushed food into the room.
Loneliness clawed at my chest. All I could hear was my own ragged breath, filling the horrible stone room where the men had thrown me.
I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to envision my home. Though it frightened me—how could I not be frightened of what was happening there?—I would give anything to return to my family and friends. It was better than this. Anything was better than this.
I curled in a ball against the stone wall, wishing for them with a ferocity that made my stomach ache. What had happened to them? Would they ever come for me? Would I ever be free?
Chapter Four
I woke with a start the next morning. Though there was a crick in my neck, the rest of my body felt rejuvenated and fresh. The nightmare that had haunted my dreams was a distant memory, leaving only a lingering sadness and fear.
For my old home? Why would I be afraid of my own home? Or so damned sad? It’d been like a quicksand pulling me down, a grief so deep I couldn’t understand it. And I’d been so young when I’d been stolen away. How could a child feel so much?
Fates, I wished I had answers. Del and Cass had gotten theirs, learning about their pasts over the last year. But the mystery of my past still haunted me, an open wound that wouldn’t heal.
But I had nothing. What I wouldn’t give to learn what had happened to my family. I wanted it more than almost anything in the world.
Sun streamed through the glass roof, a shaft bright against my face. I blinked, thrusting away the sad memories and gazing out upon my trove. In the morning sun, the blooms blazed with light. It was one of my favorite times, when I could really see all the beauty that I’d worked so hard to create.
I climbed out of the car and collected the box containing the beaker. One last time, I ran my fingertips over the leaves and petals as I walked toward the staircase.
Though the sprinkler system would keep my plants alive, they needed some serious TLC soon. I loved pruning and trimming and fertilizing. Planting and sprouting and transferring. All of it fed my soul. But lately, I’d been so preoccupied with the task ahead of me that my garden had been faltering. My soul had been faltering. Even being away from the shop, my calm oasis in the madness of the world, was making me itchy.
If I wanted to get back to any of this, I needed to finish this and take down Drakon. Or I’d never get my life back.
I took the stairs two at a time, descending to my apartment.
I showered quickly, then dressed in my usual motorcycle boots and jeans, topping it with a vintage Wonder Woman T-shirt. Just as I was tugging on my jacket and dreaming of a coffee from P&P, a pebble clattered against my window.
Ares.
He still didn’t have access to the green door that allowed entrance to the building. I went to the window to check, grinning when I saw him standing on the sidewalk. He held a small package in his hand.
I gave him a thumbs-up, then grabbed the beaker box and slipped the strap over my head. I’d had to conjure a new strap and had been sure to make this one extra thick.
Rejuvenated from my R&R, I took the stairs two at a time. At the bottom, I pushed open the door and stepped out into the cool morning air. Ares stood about ten feet down the sidewalk, talking to a man I didn’t recognize. I turned toward them, the box clutched to my chest, memories of the attack last night still fresh in my mind.
Ares turned toward me, a smile in his eyes.
Out of the corner of my eye, the air shimmered with an opalescent sheen. It pulled at me, a magnet. Time slowed as I turned toward it, every second stretching to a minute. I felt every molecule in the air against my skin, heard the slowed-down chirping of the birds. But my gaze was fully riveted on the shimmering air in front of me.
Hunger yawned inside me. It had to be a portal.
My dragon sense tugged hard toward the gateway, the fiercest it’d ever been.
My mind zeroed in on one fact—answers lay within. So many answers to questions I’d held for so long. How I knew that, I had no idea. But I did.
Maybe it was my dragon sense, which was screaming for me to step into the portal. I’d never wanted anything so badly in all my life. It consumed me, forcing away thoughts of the beaker, Drakon, my life on earth.
This was what I wanted.
So I did it, stepping into the shimmering light.
Immediately, the world went wild around me. Wind and rain and snow and hot summer air buffeted me as trees and oceans and deserts shimmered in the distance. It was everything at once, and I was spinning through it like a top.
This was nothing like transporting, which was always dark. This was a sensory explosion that short-circuited my mind. I tried to scream, but the vacuum of space stole the breath straight from my lungs.
A second later, the portal ejected me, throwing me onto the ground. The air whooshed out of me as the box dug into my gut, my vision going temporarily blind while I adjusted to the dim light after the brightness of the portal.
I blinked, scrambling upright with the box clutched to my chest.
Where the heck was I? And had I really just stepped into that portal?
But it had promised me answers. Wordlessly, but it had promised all the same.
I spun in a circle, taking in my surroundings as my muscles tensed and my magic readied for defense. I was in a silent forest.
A terrifying forest.
The trees were dead—skeletal white and black oaks that had no leaves. They stretched as far as the eye could see, dotting the landscape around me. Beneath my feet, there was no grass, just dirt.
The sun was low in the sky—morning, I guessed. But the signs of life that I’d expect to see in a forest were all gone.
It was a graveyard.
A brief sense of déjà vu hit me. An old man in this forest. Then it was gone as if it’d never existed.
I swallowed hard, my eyes darting around for any sign of life or even a threat. There was an eerie chill on the air, something that explicitly said This is not right.
Beneath my feet, I could feel a slow thudding, so light that it almost wasn’t there. I took a few hesitant steps toward one of the dead trees, horrified by the state it was in.
Tentatively, I touched the bark. Again, I swore I felt a slow thud beneath my palms.
What the heck was that?
Magic sparked at my back, a signature that felt like tiny bubbles in water.
I turned, braced for anything.
A woman stood about twenty feet away. A ghost or spirit of some kind.
My breath grew shallow as I inspected her.
She was pale white, nearly transparent. Her long dress flowed to her feet and her hair was strange, almost as if it were made of leaves. I’d never seen her before—that, I was sure of.
Despite her magical signature, very little power radiated from her. Still, my hair stood on end. It wasn’t every day I ran into a ghost.
“Who are you?” I asked.
She didn’t answer, just glided closer to me. As she neared, I realized that her eyes sparkled.
I tried another question. “Where am I?”
“Home.” Her voice was whispery, almost like the wind.
“Um, I’m not.” I glanced around at all the dead trees. This was so not my home. It couldn’t be.
She gestured. “Come with me.”
“Where?”
She didn’t answer, just glided away. I had no other answers, no other ideas. But I needed to be here. The sense was so strong that I couldn’t ignore it. I just needed to figure out why.
So I followed her.
“Why is this place dead?” I asked.
She glanced at me, eyes sparkling. “It i
sn’t my story to tell.”
“Will you take me to the one who can?” Take me to your leader. I sure wasn’t a little green man, but I did want to find someone who would answer my questions.
Why had I been drawn here?
She led me through the forest for ten minutes. When a few buildings appeared through the trees on my left, I pointed. “Can we go there?”
“That is not the way.” She glided along, her magic sparkling against my skin. Whenever she passed a tree, it seemed to glow just slightly. Then it faded.
I was about to demand more answers when we reached a clearing. On my left, there was a tall, shimmering white barrier. Just like the portal I’d entered, but it was enormous. To the right, the dead trees thinned to form a courtyard.
I turned to inspect it more fully and my jaw dropped.
“Whoa,” I murmured, awe spreading through me.
Across the courtyard, which was at least two hundred meters long, a village climbed up a valley between two tall mountains that loomed on either side. The buildings themselves crowded against one another, all situated around a central street that rose up the valley ridge.
The mountains were a spectacular backdrop to the village, peaks rising tall on either side of the main street. They were made of golden brown stone, shot through with veins of glittering amber. Waterfalls poured from crevices along the ridges, disappearing down into the valley behind the village.
Holy crap, it looked like freaking Themyscira. I’d swear that Wonder Woman was going to jump off one of those buildings at any minute.
Except that it was dead. Despite all the water, there was no greenery. Not a single leaf or tree or flower or blade of grass. Not in the village nor on the mountains.
It wasn’t just one dead forest—there wasn’t a single living plant anywhere. The lack of life here sent grief through me, a weight that pulled at my heart. It was followed quickly by a ghost of fear. It was more like a residual emotion—one I’d once felt here.
“What happened here?”
The woman pointed toward the village. “You’ll find your answers there.”
I turned to her, but she was already drifting away, back to the dead forest. I debated only briefly, then hurried across the courtyard.
Though I didn’t know where to find answers, my dragon sense sure had some ideas. It tugged toward the main street, so I followed. On my left, there was a row of buildings, like they’d been put there to take advantage of the once-nice courtyard. But most of the buildings rose up the valley ridge ahead of me, so steep it was almost cartoonish. How did people live here?
I saw a few people through windows of their houses, but I didn’t bother to knock on their doors. Unlike the ghostly woman, these people were alive and well. My dragon sense led me toward the central part of town.
When I reached the main street, I was at the bottom end of the village, looking up a road that climbed high into the mountains. Ancient buildings made of beautiful beige stone crowded it on both sides, and fountains poured water into basins at regular intervals. Terra-cotta roofs lent it a magical air.
The buildings were pressed right up against each other, all sharing walls. Some were shops, others were homes. No technology marred the ancient beauty here, as if it’d been trapped away from time and change. A hidden kingdom.
I stepped onto the street and began to climb, desperate to figure out what the heck was going on and why my dragon sense was so excited to be here. It was early enough that no one was out on the street yet, though I caught flashes of people through windows. Their clothes were simple, and definitely not modern. Sort of Medieval, with tunics and the like.
Why the hell had I felt so compelled to come here? My mind whispered that this might actually be my home. That the weird ghost lady was right.
I might be on the path to some answers. My heart thudded, excitement flowing through my veins. If this was my home, my parents might be here. Hope filled me with light, but I tried to shove it away. I had no idea if they were alive. I didn’t want to be crushed if I were wrong.
But this place was so dead. How could it be my home? I loved plants. I was Life in the Triumvirate, whatever that really meant.
This couldn’t be my home.
The only plants here were flowers and vines carved into the fountains that flowed out of the walls of the old buildings. Stone arches that spread over the top of the street were carved with flowers as well.
Though it was fabulously beautiful with the stone and amber and waterfalls, it was wrong somehow. My hair stood on end. Even my body sensed that something was off here.
I climbed past a few more houses, headed to I didn’t even know where. As I walked, déjà vu started to hit me hard. I’d been here before, hadn’t I? Or not?
Damn, this sucked. My mind spun as I tried to make sense of this place.
“Stop!” A commanding voice came from behind.
I turned, heart in my throat. The largest man I’d ever seen—he had to be nearly seven feet tall—stood about ten feet away from me, a sword drawn and his leather armor gleaming in the morning sun. Light glinted off metal discs sewn onto the leather.
I could have drawn my bow—met his threat with one of my own. But I didn’t.
Sometimes, in the movies, there’s a moment where the character realizes something huge has happened. They just stand there and watch, understanding that the world is changing around them. Like Neo in the Matrix. I was Neo, and I was about to take the red pill.
“Where am I?” I asked.
Confusion creased his brow. “You are trespassing.”
“Not sure about that. A portal appeared to me—felt a hell of a lot like an invitation.”
Surprise flared in his brown eyes. Then they hardened. “Come with me.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“To the head steward. She will determine what to do with you.”
“Is she in charge?”
“While the queen and king are away, yes.”
“All right then, let’s go.” They could throw me in a dungeon, kill me for trespassing, use me for archery practice—who knew? But I wanted answers, and my dragon sense was clear—there were answers in this place. It’d never led me wrong before and I didn’t think it was about to start.
“Good.” He almost looked surprised at my lack of fuss, but I didn’t have time to dillydally around.
He led me up the street toward a large building on the left. It looked almost like a municipal building, except that it had fabulous stone architecture and was probably about a thousand years old.
“What is this place called?” I asked as he gestured me inside the building.
“Elesius. But the steward will answer your questions.” He led me into a fabulous library.
Shelves of books surrounded me, leather spines lined up neatly. Comfy chairs were scattered about the large room, along with tables and a desk. Light shined in from a glass ceiling, along with windows high on the walls. Colorful glass lamps sat on surfaces, but the candles within were not lit.
“Wait here.” Morpheus left. Even though he hadn’t handed me the red pill himself, the nickname fit.
I explored the room, finding books I’d never heard of. The door creaked open behind me, a noise so slight I almost didn’t hear it.
I turned. A woman entered, shock sending her brows up to her hairline. Her dress was long and pale green, her hair a riot of red and gray curls around her face. She wasn’t my mother, but she was vaguely familiar.
The woman spread her arm out. “Phoenix Lividius, you are home.”
Chills raced over my skin. “What do you mean? How do you know my name?”
Footsteps sounded from the hall behind her. My eyes darted to the empty space in the doorway. Morpheus appeared.
“This is your home, Phoenix Lividius.” the woman smiled. “We’ve been searching for you.”
My home.
Something familiar pulled at my mind. My gaze darted around the room, taking in the books a
nd the chairs and the windows streaming light that made the dust motes sparkle.
I was home? Could my parents possibly be here?
Joy and fear ricocheted through me, a lightness and a heaviness that didn’t know how to coexist inside one body. I searched my mind for more memories, but none came.
There were types of mind manipulation magic—Doyen’s had screwed with me enough that I was too intimately familiar. But this didn’t feel like that.
“I’m from here?”
“Yes. I’m Moira.” She gestured to Morpheus. “That is Orion. He is a guard. I am consul to your mother, the queen.”
“Is she alive?” My heart leapt. “My father?”
I had only the vaguest memories of them, gleaned from nightmares of the Monster using them against me. They’d been abducted along with me, according to my sparse memories.
“They are alive.” A tentative smile pulled at Moira’s lips. “They are on a trading expedition. One that could not wait. But we’ve sent word. They will be home soon.”
My head felt like a balloon, floating among the clouds. My parents were alive.
“I’m home.” The words felt foreign and strange.
“Yes.” Moira gestured for me to come forward. “Come, I’ll show you to your room.”
“What is this place? The library?”
“My personal study. As well as being consul to your mother, I’m the steward in Elesius. While your parents are gone, I act in their stead.”
“Okay.” I looked at Orion, the solemn giant who stood at her side. I still liked the name Morpheus better, but I was sure he wouldn’t get the joke. “What is this place?”
“We are a kingdom, cut off from the world by magic,” Moira said.
“Like another realm?” I’d already had enough with the Vampire Realm.
“Not exactly.” Moira gestured. “Come. I will take you to your room so that you can freshen up. Your mother will be here soon.”
My mother. That sounded crazy.
Could this really be true? I believed her. I wanted to believe her. I’d been missing my family so badly for so long. The not-knowing was one of the hardest parts. And now there were answers.
