by R. A. Rock
Tess started to cry. It hurt too much. She was too scared. She couldn’t do it. She simply wasn’t that brave.
“Tess, listen to my voice,” Finn shouted again. “Accept it.”
“I can’t,” she whispered, crying at her helplessness, at her inability to do what was needed when it really came down to the moment of truth. She was so Shadows-cursed afraid of the Dark Queen. And with good reason.
“You can. I believe in you. Accept it.”
She pulled in a shuddering breath and let the fear in. It screamed into her body like a banshee, filling every dark corner, destroying every bit of happiness, taking up every bit of who she was.
I accept you, she told the fear. You are welcome here.
I accept you.
I accept you.
And it happened again.
She felt a space, a tiny beam of light between her Starlight and the fear. Then her Starlight wrapped around the fear but not to destroy it. She rocked the fear like a scared child and continued to whisper, I accept you. I accept you. I accept you.
With this acceptance, Tess felt courage fill her veins. She knew she could do it. She knew she could defeat the Dark Queen. She wiggled a little and felt the give. She could move her arm. Would it be enough to reach her Otherworld sheath? It would have to be. But had Perdira parted the wards?
Please Perdira. The wards.
She heard far off laughter again, but this time it was vengeful. So Perdira probably hadn't moved the wards. But on the off chance that she had, Tess needed to try. To make one last effort.
Tess took a deep breath and, as quick as she could, moved her hand to her side. She intended to draw her blade from the Otherworld sheath and a moment later, she felt the handle in her hand. Perdira had done it! She sliced through the air between her and the queen. There was a ripping sound, and she fell to the ground. Finn was trapped against the wall by the queen’s magic. Tess walked over to him and sliced through those bonds as well.
Tess was amazed.
“I could use some more juice,” she said, holding out her hands, and he nodded. They brought their hands together and United. They were getting to be experts at that—probably not a good thing. They let go of their hands, facing the King and Dark Queen again, walking toward the two ancient Fae unafraid. Tess raised her hands and, with the added strength of Finn’s Starlight, pulled the objects away from the King.
They didn’t float calmly this time. They came straight to her and hit her with a loud smack. Tess grabbed them and shoved them into her Otherworld sheath in one fluid motion. Perdira must be keeping the wards open for her.
The Dark Queen screamed in rage.
“You may have got the magical objects, but what will you do with them if you’re dead?” she spat at Tess. “I’ll feed you to the wyrm. You won’t be able to cause any trouble then.”
The King watched all this with a resigned expression on his face. Ransetta whipped her hands around each other and flung magic at them. Tess and Finn put their hands up to protect themselves, knowing that it was futile.
But the magic bounced off a heavy shield. Ransetta turned on the King in fury.
“Why are you protecting them? I thought we were working together to stop them.”
“There is the prophecy, Setta,” he said, his voice calm. “I’m not sure we can stop them.”
“Are you crazy? I’m not going to let this little upstart, whose ancestors should never have fallen, destroy everything I’ve worked for. As always, you’re a fool who’s never strong enough to do what needs doing.”
“There’s a difference between strength and brutality, Setta. There’s a difference between mere control and true power. It’s the one thing I could never get you to understand.”
Ransetta made a frustrated groan and dropped her hands. The next second, she was gone.
Tess and Finn exchanged a glance.
That was unexpected.
“Do not think that I’m helping you,” the King said to them. “Because I’m not. I am simply not standing in your way.”
“It’s enough, your majesty,” Tess said.
“Yes, well, I have had some experience with prophecies, and they tend to find a way, no matter what.”
“Thank you, anyhow,” Finn said, and the King gave him a nod.
The next second, they disappeared.
They appeared before Perdira in the wyrm tunnels.
“There you are,” she said.
“Took you long enough,” Finn said, furious with Perdira. “She nearly sent Tess to the wyrm. We almost—”
“You’re welcome,” Perdira interrupted him.
“Thanks,” Finn and Tess said at the same time.
“We have to get Finn’s family,” Tess said immediately. She stepped forward, grabbing Perdira’s shirt. “Right now.”
Perdira snapped her fingers. Then she waved her hands, and an image appeared of Finn’s sister and the kids, wide eyed in the Keeper’s quarters. Tess pulled back, shocked that the problem could be solved so easily.
“Thanks,” she said to Perdira, truly meaning it for the first time. Perdira seemed pleased.
“There are perks to hanging out with an ancient Fae,” she said, lifting and dropping her shoulder.
“Thank you,” Finn said, not sure how to convey his gratitude.
“There are a ton of people looking for you,” Perdira said, her usual arrogant smile missing from her face. “And they’ll be here soon.”
“Then I better get reading this.”
Tess pulled the Scroll and crown from the Otherworld sheath. She plunked the Crown of Visions on her head and reeled as more information than she could handle suddenly came at her. It was so much more disorienting than the first time, probably because of her emotional upset. She clawed at her head, trying to get it off, but Finn grabbed her hand.
“Will it to do what you want, Tess,” he said. “It’s just like any other magical object. You control it.”
She cried out in confusion and discomfort but didn’t remove the crown. Finn held her hands, trying to help her calm down. She pulled in big gasping breaths, and over the next few moments, her breathing calmed.
“Is everything good?” Finn said when she opened her eyes.
Tess nodded.
“It was a little overwhelming there for a moment. Thanks.” She glanced down at their joined hands.
“A little?” Finn frowned and let her go. “You were seriously losing it. Better read it quickly.”
Tess gave one nod. Then she opened the Scroll and, with one nervous look at Finn, gazed down at the words. She looked perplexed for a moment, but then her eyes got big.
“What?”
“The words are reforming into our tongue,” she said. “I can read them now.”
When Finn looked down at the Scroll, it still looked as incomprehensible to him as before. The words were written in runes and might as well have been chicken scratchings for all he could understand them.
“Oh no,” Tess said as her finger followed the line of runes across the page. “Oh no. No. No. No.”
“What’s wrong, Tess?” Finn said, concerned.
But she didn’t answer, only continued to read. When she was done, she looked up and met his gaze.
“We’re not going to end the Severance tonight, Finn,” she said, her eyes filled with tears.
“But it’s only a matter of time before the King and Dark Queen will capture us if we haven’t done it,” he said, desperate. “That was the plan. To end it. From the beginning, all we wanted to do was end the Severance.”
“I know. But this is much bigger than we thought. Much bigger.”
Finn stumbled back, leaned against the wall, and then slid down until he was sitting.
“Explain.”
“We have to get the following seven magical objects to enact the spell, in addition to the Scroll. The Blades, the Crown of Visions, the Chalice, the Ring, the Mirror, and the Potion. There's a lot I don’t quite understand. Then the
re are instructions for how to end the Severance using those magical objects.”
“I can’t believe it,” he said, blown away by this new information. “I really thought we would do it tonight.”
Through Tessa’s horrible disappointment, she remembered what she had told Finn. That when it was over, she would let him out of the Joining vow. It was the least she could do after messing up so badly.
“I’ll let you out of the Joining now,” she said, holding up her hand.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Perdira said suddenly. And both Tess and Finn swiveled their heads. “You don’t want to do that yet.”
“Why not?” Finn said.
“You’re cute, Big Boy,” Perdira said, coming forward and patting Finn on the head. “So, we’ll keep you.”
“Perdira, what do you want?” Tess said. “We’re kind of busy being incredibly disappointed.”
“Disappointed?” Perdira said, taken aback. “Why?”
“We can’t end the Severance,” Tess said, her eyes filling with tears, though she didn’t let any fall. “We need all these magical objects, and the King and Dark Queen are going to catch us. And—”
“Tess, Tess, you’re thinking about this all wrong. I mean, sure, this could be considered a setback. But look at what you’ve already accomplished.”
“Accomplished?” Tess said, incredulous. “What are you talking about?”
“What does the Scroll say you need?” Perdira said, holding up one finger. “The Blades. You’ve already got those, which I was kind enough to give you.”
“Kind enough?” Finn spat, but Perdira ignored him.
“I nearly died—” Tess started.
Perdira merely kept talking, holding up a second finger.
“And now you have the Crown of Visions, too, which you so cleverly retrieved from Setta’s head. With my help, of course. That's two. And you're barely getting started.”
“But—” Tess started.
Perdira sat down beside Finn and patted him on the thigh.
“Don’t be disappointed, kids. You’re doing so well. The next thing is the Chalice. And it just so happens that you’re going where the King and I hid it.”
“What do you mean?” Finn said, turning his head to look at Perdira. “Where are we going?”
Chapter 41
Perdira waved her hands, and they were back in her quarters. Izzie was there but he told them that Nat had decided to go to the Ball.
“You only have two options,” Perdira said, her face more serious than Finn had ever seen her.
“What are they?” Tess said, and she seemed disoriented, maybe from using the Crown of Visions. “What are our options, Perdira? They’re going to capture us. And tomorrow when the Truce spell ends, they’ll kill us.”
“You can stay here in Ahlenerra, be captured, and die,” Perdira said, with no hint of humor in her eyes. “Finn will definitely die because of his vow—probably in the next few hours, once my top up runs out. You, Tess, I’m sure Setta will find a way to kill you at least seven different ways.”
“So, you’re saying that we have to leave Ahlenerra?” Tess said, appalled.
“To the Cradle where the mages live?” Finn said, dismayed by the news. He had never left their land. He hadn’t even traveled to the west in the direction of the mage lands before.
“No, you can’t go there,” Perdira said with a slight shake of her head. “There’s nowhere on Esper that’s safe for you now.”
“Nowhere on Esper?” Tess said in consternation. “Where else can we go?”
“The Earthly realm,” Perdira said her face turning bitter. “Home of the most vicious element ever invented. Snow.
“With the Starless Ones?” Finn said. “We can’t.”
“Why not?” Perdira said, her eyebrows drawing together.
“Well, last time I checked, sweetie, you were no angel.” Finn lifted an eyebrow, and Perdira made a face like she conceded the point.
“Yes, I thought we needed an angel to travel between the realms,” Tess added.
“Usually, you do,” Perdira admitted. “But because I’m the Second, I have enough power to send you there. I will be very, very weak for a long time. But I can do it.”
“Why would you weaken yourself so much to save us?” Finn said, skeptical.
“Saving you happens to fall in line with my plans to destroy Ransetta,” Perdira explained.
“Ah, that makes sense, then,” Finn said. “I believe that.”
“Fine then,” Tess said. “Send us.”
“Hang on, Tessa,” Isadore said, stepping forward and putting out his arm as if to protect her from Perdira. “Tell them the truth, Ancient One. Now.”
Izzie still bowed his head respectfully toward Perdira, but then he lifted his eyes and gave her a hard stare. She blew out a breath and folded her arms over her chest in annoyance.
“Perdira?” Finn said. “What aren’t you telling us?”
She lifted one lovely bare shoulder and dropped it.
“There could be unintended consequences,” she said as if it were no big deal.
“Could be?” Izzie said, glaring at her now. “There will definitely be consequences that we could not even begin to predict.”
“All right,” Perdira said. “There will be unintended consequences from traveling between realms in this way.”
“What sort of unintended consequences?” Finn asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
“Possible nausea, headache, pain, blindness, deafness, the inability to walk, inability to speak, possible loss of a limb…” She trailed off, seeming to search her mind for more.
After a moment, Finn couldn’t hold back. “Is that all?”
“Is that all?” Tess turned to him, aghast. “I’d say that’s quite enough, wouldn’t you?”
“Oh, and…” Perdira looked way too casual for it to be something small.
“And?” Finn demanded.
“And what, Perdira?” Tess asked, taking a threatening step closer to the ancient Fae.
“There is one other minor consequence,” she said, holding up her thumb and index finger quite close together, implying that it was something inconsequential.
“Just tell us,” Tess ground out. “We don’t have much more time.”
Nat moved over to Tess and put her arm around her waist, giving her moral support.
“There could be some issues with memory.”
“Issues with memory?” Finn said. “What sort of issues?”
“You know, recalling things,” Perdira said vaguely.
“Meaning what, exactly?” Tess demanded. “Perdira, we don’t have time for your games.”
“You likely wouldn’t have any memory at all when you arrived on the Earthly realm.”
Finn and Tess exchanged a glance.
“So, we wouldn’t remember what happened, you mean? Like how we got there?” He somehow knew that wasn’t what she meant at all.
“I mean,” Perdira said, obviously reluctant to tell them, “that you probably won’t remember anything. Who you are. What you are. Where you’re from. Why you’re there. Nothing. You would retain your muscle memory of how to perform basic tasks and general information, like not to touch fire, how to speak, how to walk, etc. But you would remember no details of your life. Probably not even your own name, though that might stick. It’s hard to say.”
“So we wouldn’t remember each other?” Tess said, her eyes on Finn’s face.
“But how would we…” Finn trailed off, not at all sure how to finish that sentence as the enormity of what they’d be risking hit him.
“I have no idea,” Perdira said, holding her hands up, confounded. “You would need to figure out who you are, what you are, and what you’re doing there. And all of that before you run out of Starlight.”
“Run out?” Tess asked.
“Fae can only stay on the Earthly realm six months before the place will suck all their Starlight from them. You’ll need to get back here
before then, or you’ll die.”
“But on the upside,” Perdira said, with a smile, “going to the Earthly realm will temporarily solve Finn’s vow problems. There’s not much magic there, and the spell would definitely be put on hold.”
“That’s not much of an upside,” Finn said. “Though I would be very grateful to not die.”
“Then again, you definitely won’t have enough Starlight to last six months.”
“Stars above, is there no end to the good news?” Finn rested his head back and stared at the ceiling of the cave.
“But how will we find each other if we don’t remember anything?” Tess said.
“That’s why you can’t Unjoin now,” Perdira said. “Using the Joining vow, you’ll be able to find each other. It will be unconscious, but you will be drawn together. Probably sometime within the first day.”
“And what about finding the Chalice?” Finn asked. “How will we know about that?”
“I have an idea,” Isadore said, stepping forward and blushing slightly as Perdira turned her lovely green eyes on him.
“What is it, young one?” she said, her smile seductive.
“What if you gave Tess a note?”
“Too difficult to maintain that sort of spell while I send them,” Perdira said immediately.
“You could make it self-destructing once she read it. That would make it easy to maintain because there’s no permanent structure.”
“That’s true,” Perdira said, considering the idea. “But what would the note say?”
“They will need help, Ancient One,” Izzie said. “There are many on Earth who know enough that they could help. But only one that I can think of that actually might.”
“Who’s that?” Tess said, but they both ignored her, intent on their conversation.
“The Great Hunter,” Perdira said to herself and began to nod. “You’re right, young one. There’s a chance he won’t help either, but he’s definitely our best bet.”
Perdira beamed at Isadore.
Izzie nodded, pretending he wasn’t inordinately pleased by her praise.
“That would make the note easy to write as well. Simply tell her to find him.”
